


For 10 Galleons

by CQueen



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-07
Updated: 2013-08-08
Packaged: 2017-12-14 05:52:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 30,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/833489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CQueen/pseuds/CQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Slytherin Alexei Dolohov needs just ten galleons in order to buy a new broomstick for the Quidditch finals, and wouldn't you know it, Hugo Weasley happens to have just that amount. But the coins are not for free.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Gentlemen's Agreement

Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks very much for reading, I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think. Have a great day!

A Gentlemen's Agreement

To say that Alexei Dolohov was in a piss poor mood would be a massive understatement. He was so angry that anyone with even a quarter of a brain was giving him a wide, wide berth. Ten friggin galleons, the Slytherin inwardly fumed as he stomped out of the Great Hall, ignoring his fellow students. He was ten fucking galleons short. When his bastard of a roommate got back from St. Mungos he was going to send the son of a bitch right back to his hospital bed.

Angrily running a hand through his shoulder length black hair Alexei cursed the heavens above as he thought about the fact that his team was going to lose to Gryffindor during their next and final match against their arch nemesis. They were going to lose because he was ten galleons short the money he needed to buy himself a replacement for his racing broom. He had enough to buy an okay broom, but not one in the same league as his former broomstick. The broom his assehole roommate had borrowed without asking him while drunk, subsequently crashing said broom into the damn castle, destroying it.

Tonight had been the deadline to getting the money sent off in time to insure he got the broom delivered in time for the match.

He was so pissed he could scream.

Stomping his way down the hallway the Slytherin was so lost in his dark, vengeful thoughts that he almost missed the sound of someone calling him name. Turning around with dark eyes flashing Alexei could feel his temper rise to an even more dangerous level as he caught sight of the man walking towards him at a coltish trot.

Hugo Weasley. Gryffindor. Brainiac. Goody-two Shoes. Teacher's Pet.

What the hell could the know it all want with him, Alexei wondered, curious enough not to just ignore the other man and walk off like he hadn't heard his name being called. Besides, if the Head Boy didn't have a good reason for calling after him he'd just see to it that the Gryffindor rued interrupting him while he was in the middle of a serious mad. Beating on the other man wouldn't be that satisfying, but it would make him feel a little better.

"Thank you for stopping, I wasn't sure you would."

Glaring up at the man, he had always hated that the Gryffindor was taller than him, Alexei crossed his arms in front of him and waited for whatever lame explanation the other man had to give.

Reaching up Hugo pushed his glasses up his nose with one finger. "I wondered if you could spare me a few moments of your time to discuss a business proposition of mine."

"Me do business with you? Please."

Turning to leave the Slytherin went still when he felt the Gryffindor's fingers close around his arm, holding him in place. Glancing over his shoulder Alexei glared. "You want to keep that hand, you'll keep it off me, Weasley."

Putting his hands up in the air to show that he wasn't touching the other man Hugo watched him closely, gauged the Slytherin's mood, and then slid one hand down into his robe pocket, wrapping his fingers around what was inside. Withdrawing the pocket's contents Gryffindor held out his hand, revealing ten gleaming gold coins.

"I understand you need ten galleons."

Eyes focusing in on the coins like a predator spotting prey, Alexei's gaze slowly drifted up to look at the Gryffindor, calculating the odds and how difficult it would be to snatch the coins out of the man's hand before he saw it coming. Deciding to at least hear the other man out before he reduced himself to stealing the money, the Slytherin's face shifted into thoughtful lines as he studied the other man closely for tells. "I'm listening."

)

"You need ten galleons to replace your broomstick so that you can beat my house in the finals. You won't win without it." There wasn't a hint of doubt in the Gryffindor's voice as he put the coins back in his pocket. "What I mean is, as good as you are, my house's players all have the latest brooms, and let's face it, as a whole they're a better team than yours. You're your team's best player and the reason Slytherin's made it to the finals in the first place. In the end it comes down to who gets the snitch, and you're a better seeker than Grayson. But you need to be faster than him, especially since my team will be gunning for you since they all know you're the ace up Slytherin's sleeve. Not that you won't be a serious threat on any broom, but you're the type who likes the best of everything. You'd hate competing on less."

He couldn't disagree with that, but he wasn't about to bite just yet either. "And why would you want Slytherin to win?"

Hugo shrugged his shoulders. "I don't particularly want you to win, but if your team were to win that wouldn't bother me overly much either. I'm not on the team, nor is any member of my family after all. I'm friendly with most of the team, and I do wish them all the best at the game, but I don't believe I would have a crisis of conscience if you did win, because you'd still be winning by skill. A broom can only take its rider so far. Everyone knows you'll be drafted once school's over to play professionally."

"So having established that I want and need that money to buy myself a new broomstick…what do you want in return for it?" Their present situation highlighted the fact that the other man didn't need money from him, and he doubted the Gryffindor wanted to enlist him to beat the crap out of someone. Not only did people rarely pick on the man, but the four eyed geek had only to tell his Potter cousin that he was being victimized and Lily Potter would go to town on their asses.

"I'm conducting an experiment that requires your participation."

The Slytherin's eyes narrowed threateningly. "You want to experiment on me? For your uncle's shop?"

Laughing, a bright and happy sound, Hugo shook his head with eyes dancing with amusement. "No, of course not. I know better than to think you'd ever agree to be used as a test subject for any of my uncle's joke shop products. You've probably never stepped foot in one of his stores."

Why would he? "So then what kind of an experiment is it then?"

"The experiment in question requires only a couple minutes of your time and doesn't involve any danger to your person. In theory anyone would normally do, but this is a special case and you fit the parameters perfectly."

"And just what parameters do I fit so perfectly?" Alexei wanted to know, not liking the way the Gryffindor was presenting this business deal at all. He was definitely getting the feeling that the other man was trying to slowly ease him into agreeing to do something he really, really wasn't going to want to do.

"You're the baddest without being evil guy at this school."

Both eyebrows hitting his hairline at the matter of fact reply, Alexei didn't know what to say to that. It was actually sort of flattering, knowing that the Gryffindor held him in such bad regard. Did all of the Weasley's too numerous friends to count think he was the baddest guy at Hogwarts? He had to appreciate the not being evil add on too, the Slytherin thought with reluctant humor. Though some would argue whether he was evil or not.

"Okay, I'll bite." He decided. "What exactly do you need a bad guy for?"

"Well as you may or may not know I've dated a lot of people."

"Now there's an understatement." The Slytherin interrupted, smirking at the other man. It was a well known fact that the popular for reasons that escaped him Gryffindor never turned down a request for a date unless he was already seeing someone. Relationships which never lasted owing to the fact that usually the man before him went on a couple of dates with someone, male or female, and then somehow turned them into just friends, which accounted for the fact that the Gryffindor was rarely alone. As far as he knew the longest the curly topped egghead had ever gone out with someone was two weeks.

Not at all offended Hugo nodded his head in agreement. "Finding my soul mate has proven quite difficult. Now that the end of our final school year is approaching I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I shan't be continuing the family tradition of meeting the one for me while still at Hogwarts. I even have some concern that I might end up like my Uncle Charlie, married to my work instead of someone else. Though he seems to prefer it that way so maybe it won't be as bad as I imagine it to be."

"And this has what to do with me?"'

"The point is that ever since I started dating in my fifth year I have gone out with girls and boys, jocks, nerds, introverts, extroverts, good looking and not so good looking, brilliant and not so brilliant…in short, I've dated a wide variety of people without discrimination or preference for a certain type. Most people, as I understand it, have a type. I have not found a type that I am particular attracted to. Partly, I presume, because none of the individuals I've dated thus far have been able to illicit a reaction from me that is more than one would expect when dealing with typical teenage hormones."

The Slytherin sneered at the Gryffindor. "Or you could just be so lousy at the dating game, ever think of that."

"Quite a bit, actually. It's my worry that I might be somehow defective when it comes to my sexuality." The Gryffindor's response was matter of fact, without a hint of embarrassment or shame. "I enjoy snogging, but not so much that I want to do it nearly as often as most couples seem to. I have considered that I lack technique, but I would think that someone would have said something by now if that were the case. Not to mention I am the smartest man here so it defies logic that after all this time I wouldn't have developed the knack for it. So either I've never snogged someone competent in the process, which is hard to believe, I lack something that impedes my abilities in this area which is possible, or I simply haven't found my type yet and am just abnormally picky."

It was rare for him to be shocked dumb, but this was one of those occasions. And when he did regain his ability to speak Alexei only had one question. "I repeat, what the hell does this have to do with me?"

The gleam that came into the other man's eyes then had a very bad feeling erupting in the Slytherin's belly. "I've never snogged or been snogged by a genuine bad boy."

)

"Oh no. No, no, no, no, NO! Not happening. So not happening. Not even with a wand at my head and an Unforgivable curse coming my way. No." The Slytherin backed away from the Gryffindor like he was faced with a coiled cobra who was preparing to strike. "You are out of what little mind you have, Weasley. Absolutely and completely out of your mind of you think I would ever…you have to be joking. Did one of your idiot cousins put you up to this?"

Hugo shook his head. "No. Why would they? They'd be worried you'd curse me for even suggesting the idea."

"As well they should."

"Fair enough. I thought winning the Quidditch cup and getting a broom would be worth having to kiss me just one time, but I guess not." The Gryffindor's smile was as sweet as apple pie. "Sorry to have bothered you. I'll simply have to find someone else who's in need of ten galleons and doesn't find the idea of snogging so disagreeable. Good night, Dolohov, sweet dreams. Good luck at the match since you'll be needing it."

Watching the Gryffindor turn and start walking away Alexei couldn't believe that the man had somehow managed to piss him off even more than he'd been before the annoying prat had showed up. How was that even possible? It shouldn't be possible, the Slytherin mentally ranted as he lifted his hands to make a strangling motion behind the other man's retreating back.

And that little parting comment about how he'd need luck in order to win the Quidditch match, like that would get him to change his mind. As if. He'd win the damn cup no matter what kind of broom he flew on. He was the best seeker Slytherin had had in decades, everyone knew that. So what if the Gryffindors all had top of the line brooms and would be gunning for him? So what if this was the last Quidditch game he'd ever play at Hogwarts, his last chance to FINALLY win the damn cup that had eluded him for years. So what if the rest of his team wasn't that great and would no doubt let Gryffindor rack up the points, even to the point where it wouldn't matter if he caught the snitch if he didn't get it fast enough.

Shit! Damn! Fuck!

Cursing with all his might and strength the Slytherin stood there for a moment and then took off running after the damn Gryffindor.

Luck was with him and the damn Gryffindor in question hadn't gone far, the four eyed geek turning around when he heard the sound of footsteps coming towards him, not looking that surprised to see the Slytherin coming towards him.

"Hello again."

"Shove it where the sun don't shine, Weasley." The Slytherin seeker growled. "And come with me."

Marching off to a hallway off the beaten path Alexei waited until the other man was standing patiently in front of him before he laid down the law. "Okay, I'll accept the deal on two conditions, and they aren't negotiable."

Looking mildly interested Hugo cocked his head to the side. "What are the two conditions?"

"One is that you never, ever, tell anyone that I snogged you. You take it to your grave, swearing on your grandmothers' souls that you'll keep your mouth shut...and the second is that you keep your hands and tongue to yourself. Hands I'll break, tongue I will damn well bite off, got it?"

"As I'm fond of both my hands and my tongue I will keep them to myself." The Gryffindor agreed, holding out a hand in the Slytherin's direction. "And you have my word on the souls of my grandmothers that I won't tell anyone about our business deal. Why would I want people to know that I had to pay you to snog me after all."

Good point. Dammit. Now that the man had agreed to his terms he had no way out.

Damn, damn, damn.

Taking a deep breath Alexei stared at the offered hand and then reached out and took the hand the Gryffindor was holding out towards him, firmly shaking on the deal.

And moving before he could talk himself out of it the Slytherin let the man's hand go and transferred his own hands to the man's slim shoulders, getting up on his tip toes as he placed his lips against the Gryffindor's.

The man's lips were soft and yielding under his, and as promised the Gryffindor made no move to touch him or deepen the kiss. The sweetness of the mouth pressed against his surprised the Slytherin, enough so that he almost forgot that he hated the man's who he was being forced to kiss and allowed him to enjoy the taste and feel of the other man's lips for a moment. And now that he thought about it they hadn't discussed how long he had to snog the other man for. Not that he wanted to stop what he was doing that badly. The man definitely wasn't terrible to kiss. He could remember the last time he'd...

And that thinking had the Slytherin breaking off the kiss, mortified by the thoughts that his obviously screwed up mind was thinking.

"I see." The Gryffindor said softly as he opened his eyes at the ending of the lip contact, reaching into his pocket with one hand to retrieve the promised coins. Holding them out to the other man Hugo's face didn't betray for a moment his thoughts about the kiss they'd just shared. "Here you go, as promised. Ten galleons."

Automatically taking the coins from the other man Alexei shoved them into his pocket, feeling embarrassed and off balanced. "Thanks."

Nodding his head Hugo smiled briefly and then without a word turned and started walking back the way they'd come like nothing had happened between them.

Watching the Gryffindor go as he tried to deal with the fact that he'd just snogged Hugo Weasley for money, Alexei couldn't help but feel that he'd just made a monumental mistake for ten friggin galleons. And now that he thought about why the other man had asked him to kiss him the Slytherin couldn't help but wonder how he'd measured up to the others.

Not that he cared whether the man had enjoyed being snogged by him…but he did have a reputation to uphold.

Though they weren't telling anyone about this so what Weasley thought of his kissing technique didn't really matter.

Dammit.

He wanted to know now.


	2. Dolohov's Evaluation

Dolohov's Evaluation

Hugo Weasley woke up with a smile on his face. Retrieving his glasses from his bedside table the Gryffindor slid them into place, not surprised to see that he was the first one to wake up. He wasn't the laying around in bed type. Getting dressed quickly Hugo retrieved one of his textbooks and sat back in bed, content to read until his cousin woke up. Louis would be the next to wake up not because the blonde was an early riser, but because he always took as long as a girl to get ready every morning. It was just one of the quirks that made up the unique person that was his best male friend.

As he read Hugo wondered in some part of his brain whether or not a certain Slytherin would come after him. A memory charm, perhaps? Or some curse or jinx to assert his alpha male tendencies and reinforce his dominating personality? Either were possibilities. Physical violence was also possible, though unlikely. The man might threaten that sort of thing, but his instincts told him that while Dolohov wouldn't feel guilt being rough with him, the Slytherin would probably stop short of drawing blood since he was physically no match for the shorter, but a great deal stronger and more built man.

More built than he'd previously realized. When the Slytherin had snogged him he'd felt the man's body for himself. It was an experience he certainly wouldn't mind repeating.

A body suddenly flopping on the mattress beside him, Hugo looked over to smile at his cousin. "Good morning, Louie. Sleep well?"

The blonde groaned. "I never get enough sleep. I need more hours in the day to sleep."

Hugo knew better than to point out that the man could sleep in longer if he wasn't so fussy about his appearance.

Forcing himself up on his elbows Louis's eyes slowly narrowed as he focused on his cousin's face. "What's up with you? I picked up something last night when you came back from wherever you went after dinner, but I got distracted and when I got up here you'd already turned in. You had that look in your eye, the one you get when you're fascinated by something, and that hasn't happened in a while since you know just about everything by now."

"Human nature will always fascinate me."

"And just which human caught your interest last night, Huey?"

A small, vaguely secretive smile crossed Hugo's face. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that, sorry. I've taken a vow of silence on the matter."

"Oohhhh, sounds to me like someone's got a sexy morning story to share. And you never have sexy morning stories. Or evening sexy stories. Hell, you NEVER have sexy stories for me to weasel out of you. Tell, tell, tell!"

Whomp

Grabbing the pillow that had just been thrown at his head Louis hurled it at the head of one of their roommates who hadn't appreciated being woken up before he had to be.

The pillow fight that ensued between the two distracted Louis for the time being but Hugo knew better than to think that the blonde would be off the trail for long. And once Lily got involved, which she would be as soon as Louis realized he wasn't talking, it would really be difficult to keep what had happened the night before to himself.

But he had sworn on the souls of his grandmothers so he had to keep his mouth shut.

)

Alexei tried not to think about the night before with little to no luck. It was eating away at his brain, the Slytherin thought darkly as he headed for his next class of the day. He should be happy about the fact that he was going to get the broom he wanted thanks to the money he'd gotten from the Gryffindor, but he was having a hard time being glad about it since he couldn't help but wonder how he had measured up against Hugo Weasley's previous kissers. It was maddening, just maddening.

He'd wanted to curse the owl he'd picked the night before to deliver his broomstick order, that's how annoyed he'd been with Weasley and his life choices in general. But it hadn't been the damn bird's fault he'd accepted the bloody Gryffindor's business deal.

And then, as if the fates had decided to really annoy him, the Slytherin caught sight of the man who was directly responsible for his present situation. The Head Boy walked towards him, flanked on either side by a cousin. The three were called 'The Second Golden Trio', referring to the fact that Lily Potter's father had had two friends who he'd always been with too. The third member of the trio was Louis Weasley, the three cousins inseparable since birth.

They even had annoying nicknames for each other, which only they used. They called Louis Louie, Hugo Huey, and Lily Dewey for some reason.

Even as he watched the curly haired annoyance said something to his cousins that had them giving him questioning looks before accepting whatever the man was telling them. The two went on ahead, and when they'd turned the corner Alexei remained where he was as the remaining Gryffindor headed in his direction.

"Dolohov."

"Weasley."

The Gryffindor smiled just a little at the dismissive way the Slytherin had said his last name. "I felt your eyes on me numerous times during out last class together. I thought perhaps there was something you wished to discuss with me? Or were you simply cursing my existence? Because if that's the case I would point out that if I didn't exist you wouldn't be getting your broom."

Damn, the man had caught him staring, Alexei silently fumed to himself. Just his luck that the Gryffindor was too damn observant for his own good. And now that he was presented with a chance to get the answer to the question that had been nagging him all day it was taking all his strength not to embarrass himself and blurt out the words.

"All right, my mistake. Sorry for bothering you."

Deliberately turning his attention to their surroundings the Slytherin's eyes were naturally drawn to the face of the man who was currently glaring holes through him. Turning his head in that direction Alexei met the stare of a Ravenclaw he was fairly sure was in his year. Noticing that the man in question kept glancing quickly in Weasley's direction before returning to meet his stare Alexei was willing to bet that the fact that he was beside the Gryffindor was the root of the problem. And given the possessiveness in that stare…

"That your ex glaring at me?"

"Yes. Would you like me to go over there and tell him to stop glaring at you?" Hugo asked after following the direction of the Slytherin's gaze. "He's harmless, very much the academic. He's brilliant enough to know that you'd flatten him like a bug in no time flat were he to engage you in physical contact. Even in dueling you're his obvious superior."

"If he's such a wimp then why the hell did you date him?"

Hugo shrugged his shoulder. "Because he asked me to. We only went out on two dates. He didn't like it when I politely explained that we didn't click."

Alexei smirked, keeping his voice low so that the people around them straining to hear wouldn't. "So I take that to mean I'm superior to him in the snogging category too?" As soon as he said the words the Slytherin began mentally cursing, silently praying that the Gryffindor wouldn't think he was fishing for an evaluation of his snogging technique.

The Gryffindor was silent for a moment and then nodded his head.

A smirk crossed the Slytherin's features. "I figured as much. Hope I ruined you for life."

Lips twitching for a moment Hugo's eyes danced behind his glasses as he reached up to push them back into place in a habitual gesture. "I assure you that you haven't. But I'm not surprised you think so. An overly healthy ego is typical of the average Slytherin."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Alexei demanded to know, his eyes darkening threateningly.

"I mean exactly what I said."

Moving quickly so that he was in front of the Gryffindor Alexei swung around and got in the man's face as much as he could given their difference in height. "Are you suggesting that I can't kiss?"

Blinking once in surprise Hugo remained cool and calm as he responded. "Are you saying you'd like an evaluation of my findings from my experiment?"

"I am." Was the Slytherin's hotheaded reply.

"Then I would state the obvious, which is that this is neither the time nor place. Not to mention the fact that I wasn't prepared for you to question me about my findings." The Gryffindor's face moved into thoughtful lines, obviously thinking something through before nodding his head as he came to some sort of conclusion. "I'll see that you get your answers before dinnertime, if that suits you?"

"Hugo."

Both men turned to watch the school's Herbology teacher making his way towards them. It wasn't hard to guess why the man was interrupting them. Alexei thought as he moved away from the Gryffindor, amused by the relief that passed briefly over the older man's face. Probably worried that he intended to take after his most well known direct ancestor and try to kill him one of Longbottom's acquaintances. He thought about pointing out that the man his great grandfather had killed had been a teacher and not a student, but decided not to bother. Besides, it wasn't like Antonin Dolohov hadn't tried to kill Weasleys, he just hadn't been successful.

Though he definitely could understand why his ancestor had thought knocking off the Weasley clan was a great way to celebrate getting out of prison. They were the living definitions of annoying.

Particularly Hugo Weasley.

)

On his way from his last class for the day Alexei paused when he heard the sound of his younger sister calling out to him. Moving out of the way of the students hurrying past him the Slytherin waited for her to catch up, raising a questioning eyebrow when she reached him. There was a gleam in her dark eyes that he didn't like one little bit. It unquestionably didn't bode well for him. "What do you want?"

"Ohhh, someone's in a bad mood. I thought you said you'd managed to get the money together for your precious new broomstick."

"I did. Now what do you want?"

"Hmmm." Reaching into her robe pocket the girl withdrew a folded piece of parchment. "This is for you, from Hugo Weasley."

Reacting to her words Alexei snatched the single sheet from her hand, mentally cursing the Gryffindor to hell and back for being so damn careless. Even if it wasn't simply a note telling him where to meet him later the idiot still should have known better than to see he got it through a messenger. Especially one with a mouth as big as his sister's. "You read it, didn't you?"

"Tried and failed." Was her wry response, knowing that her brother knew her to well to believe that she wouldn't peek. "His sister's trained him well. He said to tell you to point your wand at the center of the page and say the price paid, whatever that means. I asked but he wouldn't tell me and nothing I did would make it reveal its contents."

Indeed, the parchment looked completely blank, he noted, giving thanks that the Gryffindor at least had that much sense. Refolding it the Slytherin shoved it into his own robe pocket. "Thanks for delivering it."

"Well I am a Prefect to his Head Boy." She pointed out dryly. "And a good brother would tell his sister what the note said so that she doesn't lose brain cells trying to figure out why the likes of Hugo Weasley would be sending you a note. I heard you two had a little confrontation earlier, is he challenging you to a duel or something? I could have sworn he had more brains than that. Or did you mess with his cousins, cause that would do it."

"I might curse him into the next century before the night's over."

"Well at least let me watch." She was no more fond of the Weasley clan than her brother, though she would secretly acknowledge that some of them were pretty hot. Not that she'd ever have anything to do with any of them.

Alexei gave her a considering look and then nodded. "We'll see. Now beat it."

Giving her brother a less than amused look the girl continued heading off in the direction of their dorm, Alexei watching her go before heading down the hallway as well, though he had a different destination in mind. He had a bit before he had to head to the Great Hall for dinner and he was curious as to just what message was concealed within the parchment.

It didn't take him long to get off the beaten path, entering a hallway where there was no one around to bother or question him. Taking a seat on one of the benches set out along the wall the Slytherin pulled out the piece of paper and his wand, pointing the latter in the middle of the blank parchment as he spoke the password. "Ten galleons."

Immediately ink began to appear and attach to form elegant handwriting across the paper, Alexei's face briefly betraying his surprise as he noted that after a paragraph of writing the Gryffindor seemed to have concocted some sort of chart?

Returning his eyes to the top of the page the Slytherin began reading.

Dolohov,

I gave serious thought to your inquiry and after careful consideration have come up with the following criteria with which to present to you the conclusions drawn the night before. I would like to stress that these finds are of course skewed due to the fact that I was not allowed to actively participate in the experiment, which makes comparison with other romantic encounters difficult. The fact that you don't find me desirable and it showed also plays a part in my judging, though I tried to be as unbiased as possible. Therefore I have broken down the encounter and established a rating system, zero being the lowest possible rating, ten being the highest. With ten categories the overall rating is out of a hundred, and you scored a seventy eight point seventy five. One hopes that you will take this as well intended advice for improvement, but I expected you will try to kill me.

I'm afraid I can't wish you luck in that, and would advise you that my family and relatives will descend on you like Thestrals on fresh meat if you should attempt to precipitate my untimely demise.

Sincerely,

Hugo Weasley

"HE GAVE ME A FUCKING SEVENTY EIGHT POINT SEVENTY FIVE OUT OF A HUNDRED!"

Vibrating with fury while his roared words of fury echoed off the stone walls, it took all of the Slytherin had not to start shredding the paper into confetti. After all, he hadn't read the rest of it, Alexei thought with eyes that burned with barely suppressed fury of the lethal kind.

The 'experiment' had been broken down into ten categories as stated, the list making the man's blood pressure soar as he read each heading and then looked to see what the corresponding rating was.

He'd gotten a two out of ten for his ability to make the other man feel desirable and wanted.

And while he knew that he shouldn't care about that, especially since he hadn't wanted the man in the least when he'd snogged him, it still pissed him off to a degree that was rapidly exceeding his fury from the night before.

The fact that he'd gotten a nine point twenty-five for making the Gryffindor want to continue the kiss after it was ended did nothing to sooth his temper, especially since the prat had added a footnote at the side that indicated the high ranking was due to the man's curiosity of what the results would have been had he been allowed to participate in the snogging.

According to the damn parchment he'd gotten fairly good marks for the thoroughness of the kiss, his ability to control a kiss and for his appealing taste. But that didn't override the fact that he'd gotten crappy marks when it came to the way he'd held the Gryffindor, the shortness of the kiss, and the fact that the kiss's finish had been less than stellar apparently.

Reading the rest of the list over and over until he'd memorized it Alexei slowly and thoroughly ripped the piece of parchment into shreds, let them fall to the ground around him like confetti, and then used his wand to set each individual piece on fire.

It didn't help.

"I'm going to kill that Gryffindor."

)

Sitting beside her cousin at the Gryffindor table Lily gave him a questioning look, worry plain on her face as she absently toyed with the dinner on her plate. "Huey….why is Alexei Dolohov planning to kill you? Because judging from the looks he's giving you right now he's planning your death with a great deal of cold blooded relish."

Hugo glanced over, not surprised to see that he was still getting the killer looks from the other man. "I gave him news he didn't like."

From his cousin's other side Louis gave him a look that said he thought that was a massive understatement. "What news? Because judging from the way he's looking at you I'd think you either told him that you killed his childhood pet or that you fancy that sister of his."

"She's not my type."

"Which is certainly a relief given that she's almost as dangerous as that brother of hers." Lily drawled out with a smirk.

"He definitely is a lot more dangerous than she is." Hugo agreed.


	3. Stalking One's Prey

Stalking One's Prey

Hugo had never been stalked by anyone or anything before, and found it an interesting, thought provoking experience. That he didn't find it unpleasant was definitely interesting. In fact, he couldn't remember ever feeling quite so alive as he was while being followed through the school's hallways by a man who meant to kill him. Talk about getting your adrenaline going, the Gryffindor thought as he listened to the sound of his footsteps echoing off the stone floors. Curiosity aroused Hugo pressed two finger tips against his pulse, noting the increased speed without surprise. It was only to be expected.

Seeing his target coming into sight the Gryffindor had to exercise a great deal of control not to look behind him to confirm that the Slytherin was still following him. He would just have to trust that the overly confident man would behave in the manner to which he'd formulated his plan around. If he didn't things could get rather ugly.

Picking up speed ever so slightly Hugo slid into the crevice of the wall, which had once housed a suit of armor that had been destroyed during the Battle for Hogwarts if he recalled correctly. Whoever the armor had been made for had been incredibly skinny and the space reflected that, which worked well in this case. Of course he was also trapping himself on three sides, but he was betting that the angry Slytherin would walk right past him, so intent and focused on taking his revenge that he would be suffering from a version of tunnel vision.

Staying perfectly still the Gryffindor watched with a small smile on his face as the man currently hunting him did indeed come down the hallway, sensing him rather than seeing or hearing him. A skilled hunter, was Alexei Dolohov, Hugo thought as focused on controlling his breathing. But far too prone to letting emotion get the better of him. Which he didn't personally mind, but was probably something he would have advised the Slytherin to work on if they were closer.

And then the Slytherin was walking past him with a narrow eyed, suspicious look in his dark eyes, obviously sensing something was amiss.

But he'd gotten the edge he wanted and Hugo gracefully glided out of his hiding spot in one smooth motion, pinning the man's dominant arm behind the Slytherin's back before the other man had time to defend.

He sure swore a lot though, the Gryffindor thought as his lips curved in amusement as he kept a firm grip that prevented Alexei from looking at or harming him as he'd intended.

Glancing the way the other man had come Alexei glared at the indent in the castle walls, seriously pissed off at himself for not recognizing its possible use as a hiding spot. Of course he'd assumed the Gryffindor would know he was coming, he was the son of an Auror after all, but he'd underestimated his target, assuming the man would flee or attempt to lose him, not face him. Not that they were facing each other, the Slytherin thought darkly as he tried to twist around, grinching his teeth against the pain that caused.

"That would not be a good idea." Turning them as he did his best to prevent the other man from seriously harming himself Hugo wasn't surprised that the Slytherin was fighting him. Alexei Dolohov had always struck him as one of those men who would keep coming at an opponent until he or his prey was dead. Defeat wasn't acceptable, death was preferable.

"Turn me loose, Weasley."

"Hmm, that is one option." Hugo agreed in a reasonable tone of voice. "Though out of personal curiosity, if I were to say give you one free punch, without attempting to defend myself, would you consider not attempting to cause me further damage?"

Alexei didn't even have to think about it. "One punch is all I'd need."

"That sounds rather ominous."

"You have no idea."

"Actually I do have some idea." Reaching up with his free hand the Gryffindor calmly removed his glasses and awkwardly managed to hook them on his tie since he figured they were more likely to get broken if he shoved them into his robes. That done Hugo let go of the Slytherin, not blinking or backing off when the other man immediately whirled around to face him with a fist already drawn back.

Throwing the punch Alexei deliberately pulled it at the last second, so that his fist brushed up against the Gryffindor's nose. "You're just going to let me?"

"It won't solve anything, but yes."

Glaring at him the Slytherin obviously didn't agree.

"If you think about it logically you'll see that I'm right. In fact, you don't have anything to be angry about. It's your pride that's been affected after all, and even if you were to severely maim or kill me it wouldn't change my opinion of you which is the crux of the problem. You would have the distinction of being the last person to kiss me, but I'd also have that distinction with you as well, at least for a long time, since my family would come after you like multiple redheaded reapers." Reaching up Hugo couldn't clearly see the surprise in the other man's eyes as he lightly wrapped his fingers around the fist so close to his face. "And quite frankly, beating me up suggests my opinion of you matters a great deal to you. Does it?"

"Of course not!"

But the Gryffindor had a point, Alexei admitted, if only to himself. He was definitely giving the other man the impression that he cared and that was just not the case. Or shouldn't be the case, dammit.

And realizing how stupid he was behaving had the Slytherin lashing out at the Gryffindor without a hint of mercy.

"I'm not the one who should be worried about my performance, Weasley. You're the one who's failed at every relationship he's ever been in. I'm mad that you blamed last night's epic failure on me instead of accepting that no one could get a decent rating given they'd have to try and warm you up. Here I am threatening to beat the crap out of you and you're so you that you can't even work up enough passion to defend yourself. Pathetic."

"So according to your logic…if I had been allowed to kiss you back last night you would have felt nothing?"

Yanking his hand back Alexei crossed his arms in front of him as he gave the Gryffindor a decisive nod.

"Interesting. Well…there's one sure fire way to test that theory. Now are you going to punch me or can I leave to test that theory?"

Alexei's eyes narrowed. "How are you going to test that theory?"

Hugo put his glasses back on, sensing that at least for the moment the Slytherin wasn't interested in punching him. By his calculations the odds of his glasses being broken into his face were now minimal, which meant that being able to see the other man clearly was more important. "Simple, really. If you're correct in your assumption that your evaluation is a result of my own shortcomings then I should see a significant change in rating if I re-kiss those who received a higher rating than you but don't participate in the snogging this time around."

He really needed to take some anger management class, Alexei thought darkly as he felt his rage bubbling up again like a full, overheated caldron. And someone needed to sign the Gryffindor up for a class that taught stupid idiot prats not to mess with Slytherins with anger management problems. Showing his anger would only make it obvious that he cared about his rating, but it was way harder than it should have been not to ask who the hell had rated higher than he had.

"Well if that's everything I do need to head out and finish my rounds." The Gryffindor pointed out softly, rocking lightly back and forth on his heels. "Unless there's something else you wish to discuss with me?"

"Why has no one killed you yet?"

Face shifting into thoughtful lines Hugo actually considered that for a couple heartbeats. "I couldn't say. I don't know how many people I've angered to the point where they'd actively pursue the pursuit of ending my life. How many people do you know that want me dead?"

"None more than I."

"You couldn't possible know that." The Gryffindor pointed out in a matter of fact tone of voice.

A second later Hugo's eyes noticeably widened. "Did you just growl at me?"

Instead of answering the Slytherin marched off in the direction they'd come from, cursing in a couple of languages as he wished all sorts of hellish punishments upon Hugo Weasley.

Watching Alexei go with the smallest of smiles on his lips, Hugo was pleased things had gone so well as he turned and headed off in the opposite direction to complete his patrol duties for the night. He wasn't going to have to lie about how he'd come by facial bruises after all. An unexpected bonus, the Gryffindor thought with a chuckle, and a much nicer way to end the evening.

)

He was slowly driving himself insane again and once again it was all that damn Hugo Weasley's fault. No matter how hard Alexei tried he couldn't stop himself from watching the Gryffindor whenever the opportunity presented itself, evaluating everyone in the prat's vicinity, wondering if he or she was one of the people who'd apparently scored higher than him. It wasn't that he was jealous, because he wasn't, but he'd always had a well developed sense of curiosity and he was just too damn competitive for his own good. Not even knowing who his competition was was slowly driving him up the bloody castle walls.

It didn't help that the know-it-all prat was so touchy feelie, the Slytherin silently grumbled to himself multiple times. How was he supposed to know who the Gryffindor had or had had a romantic relationship with if he was always casually touching people and being touched in return. The four eyed geek even held hands with his cousin Lily sometimes, for Merlin's sake.

And it was due to the fact that he was paying way more attention to the other man then usual that Alexei happened to notice the Ravenclaw who'd give him the stink eye earlier in the week grab onto Weasley's arm and hustle the man off one night after dinner.

Curiosity getting the better of him again the Slytherin found himself following after them, wondering what was going on between the two. Because while he'd only caught a glimpse of Weasley's face before the Gryffindor allowed himself to be dragged off Alexei was pretty sure that the other man had been less than thrilled to see the Ravenclaw. And just why was that exactly?

Especially since when he drew closer he heard the Gryffindor state very coolly that if the Ravenclaw didn't loosen his grip he was going to get angry.

That the Ravenclaw immediately followed orders…just what happened when Hugo Weasley got angry? He'd never seen the man get angry once in all the years they'd been going to school together. Of course he was paying more attention now than he ever had during those past six years, but still, he would have heard about the Gryffindor going postal if he had, so why the Ravenclaw's reaction?

Interesting. Very interesting.

When the two apparently thought they were out of earshot of any eavesdroppers they stopped, and unaware of their Slytherin company turned to face each other, Weasley jerking his arm out of the other man's grasp completely.

"What do you want, Jacob?"

"What I want is to know what the hell is going on between you and Dolohov. And don't tell me nothing, I'm a Ravenclaw for Merlin's sake. I'm not an idiot. You were talking to him in the hallway that one day and since then he hasn't been able to take his bloody eyes off you. And you're not much better, walking around with that gleam you get in your eyes when you're excited about something. So what, you're giving Slytherins a try now? Are you out of your brilliant mind? And him of all people…he's a Dolohov, have you forgotten?"

"Since he's never given me leave to call him by his first name it would be hard for me to forget his last name." Hugo pointed out in a cool, disinterested voice. "And there is nothing going on between Dolohov and I so there's no need for you to act the part of the jealous boyfriend; especially since you never attained that status even when we very briefly went out."

Ouch, burn, Alexei thought with a smirk from his hiding place.

"Yeah, that's right, because I wasn't man enough for you right? Hugo Weasley's looking for someone as alpha as he is and I fell short." There was a world of bitterness in the Ravenclaw's words. "Which is why Dolohov interests you, isn't it? Because he's got such a hot temper you figure that heat will transfer over into the bedroom. You're thinking that he can match up against you since the only time you let your hot and human side out is when you're getting physical with someone and so far no one's been able to handle you."

"As stated previously we didn't go out long enough for you to know how I behave when I'm of a mind to 'get physical' with someone. And if that's all you wanted to talk to me about then I do have homework to finish and this conversation seems to lack a point given that Dolohov and I are not dating, nor does he fancy me in the slightest."

"Well then let's see how I measure up, shall we?"

The Ravenclaw's tone of voice tipping him off Alexei stuck his head out from behind his hiding place just in time to see the man yank the Gryffindor down for a kiss. As he watched with the strangest feeling in the pit of his stomach, the Slytherin took notice of the fact that the man who'd been causing him so many headaches was remaining perfectly still, not reacting in the slightest to what the other man was doing to him. Weasley was all but emitting icy winds, Alexei thought as he watched the Ravenclaw turn the Gryffindor loose, obviously unable to deal with the man's reaction to his bad snogging.

And then the Gryffindor's voice whipped out with a lash that was as painful as a nine-tailed whip. "Consider that your freebie, Jacob. If you ever try that again I'll punch you so hard in your kidneys that you'll be pissing blood for the rest of the bloody week, understand?"

From the way the Ravenclaw stumbled back he did indeed get it.

In fact, the unlucky recipient of the Gryffindor's wrath got out of there so quickly that Alexei was pretty sure that the man didn't even notice his presence as he hurried past him.

Turning to watch the weakling flee Alexei smirked and then headed in the direction of the Gryffindor who was currently, if he wasn't mistaken, cursing under his breath in quite a few languages.

"What did you ever see in that loser, anyway?"

Surprise briefly showed itself in the Gryffindor's blue eyes before fading away to their usual look of calm, mild interest. "At the moment I can't recall. I would imagine it was his brilliance in academia that appealed to me at the time. Obviously not his common sense since he apparently has none." The hint of bite indicated he wasn't quite as in control of his anger as he liked to pretend to be.

"Hmm. You really think you could punch him hard enough to have him pissing blood, Weasley?"

"I have four older male cousins as well as plenty of female cousins and a sister who definitely don't hit like girls. I know how to throw a punch as well as you can, Dolohov. I just prefer to use violence as a last resort, unlike you."

"No, apparently you save all your hotheadedness for the bedroom."

Hugo blinked in surprise and then shook his head, a boyish grin crossing his face, turning it from scholarly to cute. "Didn't anyone ever tell you that eavesdropping is never a good idea? You never get the complete truth."

Doing his best to ignore the way the man's changed, much more approachable appearance was affecting him Alexei deliberately put a lot of scorn in his smirk. "Obviously. Unlike your little Ravenclaw friend I'm not about to believe that you're worth pissing blood for." Of course he would have never suspected the Gryffindor capable of issuing that kind of a threat in such a convincing, chilling tone of voice. It had been sort of…sexy. Or would have been if it had been anyone else issuing it.

"I think him running away like my sister faced with a spider proves he doesn't think I'm worth pissing blood over either." The Gryffindor pointed out dryly.

"Yeah, what was it with your sister and spiders anyway?"

"It's hereditary. My Dad is the same way. Plus most girls seem to dislike them for some reason. I've always found them fascinating myself." Shrugging his shoulders in a 'what you gonna do' gesture Hugo cocked his head to the side thoughtfully. "So, what are you doing this way anyway, Dolohov. I know where the Slytherin dormitories are and this is certainly not the way. I doubt you intended to sneak off somewhere, if that were the case you would have avoided this hallway, knowing I was here to catch you."

"I figured you were going to shoot him down, thought I'd come and watch the show. It was a lot more entertaining then I thought it would be."

Hugo considered this and then smiled. "I suppose it's only fair. I find you very entertaining as well."


	4. Passionate Natures

Passionate Natures

Alexei Dolohov did not like the idea that he was amusing. He didn't like it one little bit, Hugo thought with a mixture of curiosity and interest. The Slytherin generally managed to rein in his explosive temper before he went totally postal, and he'd always wondered just what the other man would be like if he totally lost all control and went to town on someone. But it probably wouldn't be good if that happened since he did rather want to live a long, full life, so Hugo figured that it was in his best interest to clarify his statement before the Slytherin killed him.

"I meant entertaining in that you aren't like most people. You're original. There are so few of us."

Still pretty sure he should slug the Gryffindor, it was Alexei's turn to ask for clarification so that he knew how much force to put behind his swing. "What do you mean, I'm an original?"

"I mean that we're teenagers. We live in a society that promotes homogeneous behaviors in their members. Both you and I refuse to allow ourselves to be limited by the social structures in place that would prevent us from being who we were meant to be. One of the reasons I find you fascinating is your ability to function outside societal norms while maintaining your place in the hierarchy of your Slytherin subculture at the same time. While it's safe to say that you and I are very different on a number of levels I would argue that there are similarities as well, our strength of character being one of them."

Was the Gryffindor deliberately trying to make his head hurt? Not that he didn't get what the other man was saying, he wasn't stupid, but still, there was no need to get all technical about it, Alexei silently muttered to himself as he scowled at Hugo.

"Did you not understand what I said?" Hugo asked, this often being a problem where his superior vocabulary was concerned.

Alexei's scowl deepened. "I got it, you Gryffindor Git."

Lips twitching, it was obvious that the Gryffindor in question wasn't at all insulted. "I have a very negative effect on your ability to contain your temper, don't I?"

"If you know that then why the bloody hell do you keep trying to piss me off?"

"I'm not trying. It's fairly obvious that I'm succeeding."

This was Hogwarts, Alexei silently reasoned with himself. There were loads of places to hide a body. He was smart enough to get away with it, people had been killing other people since the beginning of time. How hard could it really be? Even Hufflepuffs could do it. MUGGLES could do it, for Merlin's sake.

Sensing where the other man's thoughts were headed Hugo supposed that it was invincibility mindset of youth that had him not nearly as worried about his personal safety as he probably should be. "It probably denotes an odd quirk in my character, but I rather enjoy the fact that you respond this way to me." The Gryffindor explained, seeing that the Slytherin really was nearing his breaking point. "You get angry with a lot of people, but lately the degree to which your volatile nature has been directed towards me has been most enjoyable on my end. But I suppose it's not at all good for you, so I would advise avoiding me until you've had time to calm down so that you don't give yourself ulcers or a heart attack from the strain."

The Slytherin gaped at the Gryffindor. "What, so you're a masochist on top of everything else?"

Hugo seemed to consider this. "No…I don't think so. By definition a masochist is someone who derives pleasure from causing or receiving physical and mental abuse. I don't wish you physical or mental pain, I just enjoy your passionate nature."

There was only one logical answer to explain the Gryffindor's words and behavior. "You want to die but don't believe in suicide, is that it? You're trying to get me to do your dirty work for you."

"I wouldn't say that. While I have a hard time imagining ever reaching a point in my life where prematurely ending my life would be appealing, I don't think that it's inherently wrong. It's one of those grey areas that needs to be evaluated on a case by case situation. For instance, if I were slowly dying of a debilitating disease without any hope of recovery or quality of life then I think I should have the right to end my life without stigma or backlash from my peers. Or if the war was still going on and I had been captured and was being tortured for information. My pain tolerance is reasonable good but everyone has a breaking point so killing myself before I could be forced to reveal my knowledge strikes me as an honorable death. What's your opinion on the subject?"

He would have asked how the hell they'd gotten on this topic, but his tremulous hold on his control was just enough for him to remember the answer to that question. The only real question he had at this point was why he was being punished this way. What could he have possibly done in a past life to deserve this?

"I'm leaving now." The Slytherin finally stated through grinched teeth, which muffled his words slightly. "Don't follow me or you'll find your life prematurely shortened."

And as he walked away Alexei had to repeat over and over again in his head that the Gryffindor was just not worth the possibility of a lifetime imprisonment in the hopes that eventually it would sink in.

Waving at the Slytherin's retreating back Hugo just grinned.

)

The powers that be took pity on Alexei Dolohov that weekend, the Saturday morning marked by the arrival of his ordered broomstick. Unwrapping it as soon as it had fallen into his greedy hands the Slytherin studied it from tail to tip, sure that there would be something wrong with it given the tailspin his life was currently in. But everything looked the way it should and so he slowly accepted the possibility that the broom he'd sold his soul for was going to allow him to win the Quidditch Cup as a consolation prize.

Knowing the practice schedules by heart Alexei knew that he had an hour and a half window of opportunity right after breakfast when the pitch would be free before the Gryffindors had it for their last practice before the match tomorrow. His own team had it booked shortly after lunch but he wanted to put his new broom through its paces alone first, just in case it really was defective somehow.

That no one was supposed to use the pitch as their personal training area didn't matter to the Slytherin, he had no problem getting in after breakfast and straddling his new broom was off and flying with a whoop, finding to his surprise that the new broom actually handled better than his old one.

Merlin but flying was such a high, the Slytherin thought as he soared through the air, savoring the feel of the wind blowing gently over his body like a lover's hands. He was free and flying, where no one could bother or touch him. His mind was blissfully clear of all thoughts and worries, he was in his own little world and he was going to stay in it as long as possible.

Putting his new mode of transportation through its paces and loving every second of it, Dolohov had been in the air for fifteen minutes or so before he happened to do a dive that made him aware of the fact that he had an audience. Or a single spectator in this case, Alexei thought as he recognized Hugo Weasley immediately. Apparently the other man had decided to come and get a look at what his money had helped buy, Alexei thought as his fingers tightened around the broom handle. Or the bastard had just come to piss him off again, which was far more likely. That the Gryffindor had been giving him space didn't matter, the other man's mere presence had the Slytherin's eyes narrowing, a plan forming in his mind.

With expert ease Alexei pulled the broom up to shoot back into the open air, doing a couple of lazy loops and then speeding up for the third before suddenly arrowing down towards the ground, making the transition to a horizontal flight when he was five feet off the ground, heading straight for the Gryffindor at top speed.

In some part of him he wasn't even surprised when the other man stood his ground, the Gryffindor watching him come straight at him with that look of mild interest and nothing more. Neither of them was going to back down, Alexei realized with a mixture of shock, anticipation and trepidation, not sure what was going to happen now.

What would have happened remained a mystery though as a blast from a wand knocked Hugo onto his back, Alexei flying right over him as the Slytherin turned to see who'd fired the shot, pulling himself back up into the air as Lily Potter threw a stunning spell in his direction.

And kept on sending curses and jinxes his way up until Hugo, who'd gotten back to his feet, convinced her to stop.

)

"Why did you tell me to stop?" Lily demanded to know when her cousin was in hearing distance as he walked over to join her, keeping a wary eye above since the Slytherin was just hovering up there like a bloody vulture, just waiting to dive bomb them both this time. Though why Hugo had just stood there was beyond her too. He'd gone to enough Quidditch matches to know how bad a person could be injured on the pitch, especially given how fast Dolohov had been going.

"It's okay, he didn't mean any harm." Well he had, but he didn't blame the Slytherin for what he'd done either.

Lily studied her cousin and then looked up towards the Slytherin and back again. "Is that your way of saying that what he did and you not moving were just parts of some barbaric male ritual or rite of passage that as a woman I can't begin to understand even if you explain it to me step by step?"

Since he couldn't explain it without breaking his word to the Slytherin Hugo nodded his head.

"Okay then." Marching forward Lily got on her tippy toes and then reached out and grabbed her cousin's ear, twisting it hard enough to make him yelp in spite of himself. "You stupid idiot! Do you realize that your dumbass male ritual scared at least five years off of my precious life? If I ever see you doing something so stupid again I'm going to knock both of your heads together so hard they'll crack open like dropped eggs! And don't think I don't know you're smirking at all this, Mr. Dumbass Slytherin!" Lily added, looking up as she pointed her finger in Alexei's direction, her tone far beyond just threatening. "If I ever see you attempt to impale my cousin again I'll go down to the Chamber of Secrets, get a Basilisk's fang, and IMPALE YOU WITH IT!"

"I don't think he was trying to impale me, Dewey." Hugo assured her, deliberately using her nickname in an attempt to calm her down a little. "He was just messing with me."

"It sure as hell looked like he was going to give it his best shot." Was her thoroughly pissed off response as she grabbed her cousin's hand and started dragging him towards the exit. There was no way she was leaving him there to 'bond' more with the Slytherin seeker flying figure eights far above their heads.

Amused, Hugo made no protest, lifting a hand in farewell to Alexei, pleasantly surprised when the other man returned the gesture before flying off and out of sight.

"So why the hell were you playing chicken with Dolohov anyway?" Lily demanded to know once they were on their way back up towards the castle, still plenty pissed and not nearly done giving him hell for scaring the daylights out of her. "I mean why would you care what that prat thinks of you anyway? You've never been the type to let anyone egg you into doing something and what could you possibly gain by proving to Dolohov that you'd let him crash into you before you'd move?"

Since he often found his gender's social behavior to be rather bizarre and primitive, Hugo could understand her confusion. "I hoped to make him recognize me as someone who could potentially be considered his equal."

The look that she gave him said that she thought that was dumb. "Why would you want him to see you as an equal? He doesn't like you."

Hugo shrugged, knowing better than to elaborate on his behavior as he suggested an explanation he thought she would understand. "Chalk my behavior up to a momentary overdose of testosterone?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Men."

But she let it drop, as he'd known she would.

)

Later, after Lily had thoroughly briefed Louis as to the Slytherin seeker's attempt to impale their cousin, Hugo tried to distract them from seeking out and destroying Dolohov by discussing the upcoming match between Gryffindor and Slytherin and how their attack on the seeker would be seen as sabotage. That had them rethinking their plan a little, but in the end family was more important than their peers and they were willing to shoulder the accusations in order to insure that Dolohov never again tried to harm a hair on their precious cousin's head.

Hugo considered it quite a victory when he managed to convince them to at least wait until after the Quidditch match since they all knew that if Gryffindor won that would be a greater blow to the Slytherin than any curse they might attempt to hurl at the seeker.

The Gryffindor was subtly working up to convincing the other two that they really shouldn't be angry at the Slytherin at all when an out of breath Ravenclaw rushed over towards them at break neck speed.

It took the fifth year a couple minutes, he wasn't used to physical activity and he was very upset and worried, but eventually he managed to get out that Jacob had overheard them talking about how Dolohov had tried to hurt Hugo on the Quidditch pitch and had gone off to confront the Slytherin even though anyone with a working brain knew who would win that fight. The fifth year obviously had a huge crush on his senior and was desperate for the three older Gryffindors to go and save the idiot from himself.

"Dolohov will cook Jacob like the goose he's acting like." Louis drawled out, marveling that a Ravenclaw could be so stupid. But the man was pretty hung up on Hugo, even though he'd never had a chance with his cousin.

"And he's supposed to be a raven, not a goose." Lily added with a smirk.

"Let's go save him and then we'll discuss what kind of bird and idiot he is." Hugo interjected before they could get going with their Weasley sense of humor. "He probably intended to fly until the Gryffindor team arrived for their practice, he'll be headed towards his dormitory to put the broom away after that and Jacob would be able to figure that out. Our best chance to catch them would be along the direct route from the pitch to the Slytherin dormitories." Doing the math in his head while considering what areas along that route Jacob would deem appropriate for an ambush of epically stupid proportions, Hugo had a pretty good idea where to head and told his cousins so, leading the way with the Ravenclaw struggling to keep up with them.

Hugo's undeniably brilliant mind proved to be working very well, though it helped that both men were thankfully in the yelling angrily at each other stage when the four of them arrived close to the scene, using the raised voices to direct them.

"I say we use body binding curses so we don't have to get between them." Was Lily's suggestion as they hurried down the hallway.

"I say we let them beat each other to a pulp so that neither of them can bug Huey anymore. We just stop Dolohov from killing the prat." Louis decreed, tacking on the last part since it was a possibility depending on just how obnoxious Jacob was being.

Hugo's opinion came out as an order. "Just leave them to me."

Rounding the corner Hugo came to a grinding halt at the words the Slytherin spoke at that moment, his cousins doing the same with identical, shocked faces.

"WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, TELLING ME WHAT I CAN AND CAN'T DO? KEEP IT UP AND I'LL FUCK HUGO WEASELEY'S BRAINS OUT JUST TO SPITE YOU! NOW GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY, YOU STUPID RAVENCLAW!"

While the three Gryffindor's processed those words Jacob, who was as unaware as Alexei of their audience, fired back with glaringly bright red cheeks.

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about!"

"Oh yeah? Well I'd bet you ten galleons that if you asked him right this minute which of us he'd rather shag he'd say me!" Alexei shot back, hoping that was true since he'd never forgive the already obnoxious, troublesome Gryffindor if the man actually thought this whiney twit was more desirable than he was.

"It's a bet!"

It was at that point that Hugo somewhat loudly cleared his throat, the two men turning to look at him with a mixture of horror and embarrassment.

"Jacob…you owe him ten galleons."


	5. Question Answered

Questions Answered

Hugo wasn't terribly surprised when everyone gave him shocked, increased looks. He'd been expecting that to be their responses to his statement because they wouldn't be considering the logistics of it. His cousins were Gryffindors after all, and therefore instinctively felt more kindly towards Ravenclaws as opposed to Slytherins. It was a fundamental flaw, one that had gotten members of his family in plenty of trouble before and would likely continue to for a while longer.

So he pointed out what to him was obvious. "Think about it. Between the two of them, wouldn't you rather have sex with Dolohov?"

While Jacob sputtered and Alexei glared daggers at them all the other two Gryffindors considered Hugo's words and tried to be objective about it.

"Okay…yeah…I'd pick the Slytherin bastard too." Lily admitted with a heaving sigh. "If I had to and they were the only two choices."

Louis reluctantly nodded as well, even more loathed to admit that Hugo was right. "Yeah, as much as I hate to admit it, and boy do I hate to admit it, if I had to see one of them naked I'd go with Dolohov too. Though now I feel a little sick. I might have nightmares."

"Uhm…I'd pick Jacob." Came the voice of the fifth year Ravenclaw, a little wheezy from the unexpected workout and extreme adolescent embarrassment of having indicated his crush out loud. It was an understatement to say that he was glad that Hugo and Louis were so tall that they mostly hide him from view, the boy staying right where he was for that very reason.

Turning to look over his shoulder Louis's gaze was both indulgent and dismissive. "You're still wet behind the ears and not thinking with the brains that earned you a seat in Ravenclaw. At least the Slytherin is built, Jacob's practically a stick in comparison. And ugh, I really am going to be sick. Can we leave now? I need to write a letter to my boyfriend apologizing for what I just had to say." Now Rory was really built, the Gryffindor thought longingly, missing his boyfriend who had graduated the year before.

"Yeah, let's go now. Dolohov's more pissed off at us then he is at Jacob anyway, so the chance of the bird being cooked alive is relatively low." Lily observed with a smirk. And because she was just that mean Lily wiggled her eyebrows in the Ravenclaw's direction. "And don't forget to pay the man, Jacob, or he'll collect it in blood."

It was close, but Jacob managed to find enough dignity not to whine about the fact that he was going to have to pay the damn Slytherin ten galleons on top of everything else. "Fine. In fact, it's worth ten galleons to find out how shallow Hugo is, that he'd shag someone based on looks alone."

"I wouldn't shag him just because he's gorgeous." Hugo injected, genuine insult in his voice as he gave the Ravenclaw a disapproving look. "I do have standards, I'll have you know."

"You think I'm gorgeous?" Alexei blurted out, mouth hanging open a little in shock.

"Well no, gorgeous really isn't quite the right word…given the root of the word and the connotations linked to that it wouldn't suit your…I suppose it would be more accurate to say that I find your face and form to be well formed and constructed with an eye for masculine beauty, with an overlaying gloss of self confidence and arrogance that give your looks a sexy edge that I personally find most appealing in a member of my own gender."

Rolling his eyes Louis got a firm grip on his cousin's upper arm, giving it a hard tug. "I think it's time we take you to the library."

"Good idea." Lily agreed, grabbing her cousin's other arm. "We'll find you a book you haven't read a hundred times, okay? While you read Louis and I can brainstorm how to introduce you to people from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons since you've scraped the bottom of the barrel here and are actually starting to find the crud down there appealing."

The way the Slytherin said the girl's last name sounded like a curse.

"Hey, do you want him lusting after your body?" She demanded to know, pleased when the man paled a little at the thought. "I didn't think so. Let's go."

And with that the two started walking their bemused and amused cousin away from the two Ravenclaws and Slytherin, the three men standing there in the hall for a while before departing from each other's companies without another word.

What was there to say after all?

)

As he walked down the deserted hallway that night Alexei spotted the patrolling Gryffindor right away, grinching his teeth automatically as he struggled to ignore just how tempted he was to change direction before the other man spotted him. The last thing he needed was Weasley deciding to come over and continue their earlier chat about how he was apparently not gorgeous, but sexy. Just thinking about it was…disturbing. And he had his last, final Quidditch match in the morning. The last thing he needed was a distraction of Hugo Weasley magnitude.

How the hell had the man become such a menace to his peace of mind so quickly?

The Slytherin knew the moment the Gryffindor became aware of him, the taller man going still in that way he had that indicated he wasn't in that mental world he'd created for himself and was one hundred percent aware of what was going on around him.

Meeting the man's questioning gaze when Hugo turned to look in his direction Alexei pulled out a sheet of paper, waving it in the air for a moment before shoving it back into his robe pocket. "I was in detention." Not that he'd deserved to be. He was pretty sure his DADA teacher had decided to take particular offense to his language when telling off a Gryffindor earlier and had stuck him with night detention in the hopes that staying up late would affect his ability to play tomorrow.

Fat chance of that, he was a night owl by nature.

Walking towards the Slytherin Hugo came to a stop when there was about a meter between them, seeing the other man's intention to bite his head off if he demanded to see the note to confirm that it was indeed a pass to explain the fact that the seeker wasn't in his dormitory despite the hour. It was a good thing that that wasn't why he'd come over, the Gryffindor thought with amusement.

"Good luck tomorrow, I hope you win."

Alexei blinked a couple times before blurting out his confused thoughts. "Why do you never say what I'm expecting you to?"

"Well you know what they say, Dolohov." Hugo began with a faintly teasing gleam in his eyes. "You make an ASS of U and ME when you assume."

"Where's a Beater bat when you need one."

Fighting back the urge to smile and really get the other man's dander up Hugo thought it wise to keep something resembling a poker face in place. "I'm sorry that me wishing you luck upsets you. Do you think my wishing you well will jinx you somehow? I always wished my cousins would win when they played and they generally won as you'll recall."

A twitch appeared under the Slytherin's eye at the reminder of the fact that in his previous five years on his house's team they'd never won the cup from Gryffindor. That the annoying git's cousins had played a part in seeing to that didn't help either.

"Did Jacob give you your ten galleons? If he hasn't I'll see that he does."

Even more annoyed at this change in topic Alexei glared as he confirmed that the Ravenclaw had indeed approached him before dinner to hand over the coins as promised.

"Good. I thought he would but I wanted to make sure since you certainly earned those ten galleons for not hurting him. Does he annoy you less than I do? I mean you weren't threatening him with physical violence the way you typically do with me, but you did threaten to shag my brains out which for him would probably be as bad as you beating the hell out of him."

He didn't even have to think about it. "You piss me off way more."

"Oh."

The Slytherin's eyes narrowed, something about the way the Gryffindor had said that one, two letter word bothering him. The word indicating that it bothered the other man to hear that he was more annoying than the Ravenclaw who was on both their shit lists. Which made sense given what a whiney, annoying little prat Weasley's ex was, but it was still the truth. The Jacob guy was one of those easy to deal with annoyances, Hugo was more like mold or a fungus. He just kept getting worse and worse as the days went by.

"Well…since you find me that annoying I'll bid you good night and take my leave."

Watching the other man start to walk away from him Alexei scowled. "Your feelings can't possibly be hurt."

The Gryffindor's face was genuinely surprised as he turned to look at the Slytherin. "Of course they can. I do have feelings, you know. I know a lot of people think I'm weird and that I'm oblivious to a lot of the real world, but I assure you I'm a typical human when it comes to my emotional range. I might not place the same importance on the opinions of others the way many of our peer group do, but I do care. I would even hazard to hypothesize that there isn't anyone in this world who can claim to be so lost in themselves and their solitary existence that they don't, on some level, hate the idea that they are considered inferior or distasteful."

Something in the other man's gaze had him fighting back the urge to squirm as he muttered. "I didn't say you were inferior or distasteful."

"True. And one shouldn't put words in other people's mouths." Hugo agreed seriously, crossing his arms in front of him. "I should have said that it's not pleasant to be considered worse than an individual who has the bad habit of being whiney, overly opinionated, and prone to groping at the slightest sign of interest."

"You're the idiot prat who went out with him."

"I'm also the idiot prat who thought you were worth snogging so yes, I suppose it's reasonable to assume that my mental acuity isn't what it once was. Perhaps I should have my brain looked over the next time I'm in London."

With long, quick strides Alexei got up in the other man's face, pointedly ignoring the fact that he had to get up on tip toes to do so. "It would definitely be in your best interests not to speak of that out loud, Weasley. Especially since you made it clear before that you don't have a death wish."

"La petite mort?" Hugo asked with a raised eyebrow, his eyes unreadable as he forced the Slytherin to maintain their eye contact.

The power of the other man's stare meant it took the Slytherin a moment or two to translate the French term. "You wish that's what I'd meant!" He snarled, bright color staining his cheeks at the thought that that was what the four eyed git had thought he was referring to.

"Is that what you think?"

Alexei's brows knitted in confusion, obviously not understanding the question.

"What I mean is, is that why you find my company so abhorrent and rage inducing? You perhaps believe that I want you sexually and that makes you uncomfortable with being around me outside the classroom."

Opening a closing his mouth several times the Slytherin had absolutely no idea how to answer that. That possibility had been swimming around in his mind of course, he prided himself on being a damn good kisser so he'd assumed that the Gryffindor would desire more of his snogging, even if he had no intention of ever repeating that colossal, highly embarrassing scene ever again outside his nightmares. But he'd never thought about the man truly wanting him because the guy didn't act around him the way you did when you were near someone you wanted to fancy slash desire you. The Gryffindor seemed to go out of his way to piss him off at every available opportunity.

But now that he was thinking about it…Hugo Weasley was the weirdest man he'd ever met.

The Gryffindor had indicated that in a choice between him and that annoying Ravenclaw he'd pick him, but that sort of went without saying. Who in their right bloody mind would pick Jacob if they were being unbiased? But he didn't want to make an ass out of himself by confirming that he thought the other man wanted him because what if he was wrong? The last thing he needed was the man lecturing him about his ego and driving him to the point where he really did hunt down a beater bat and beat the man to death with it.

Hugo's lips twitched, he couldn't help it.

"What the hell are you smirking about, Weasley?"

"You have very expressive eyes. Has anyone ever told you that?"

Immediately dropping back to being flatfooted so that they weren't eye to eye the Slytherin just glared, furious that he was being reduced to silently bitching the other man out because he couldn't seem to find the damn words to do it properly since the asshole kept dropping weird, confusing bombs on him.

"Apparently I'm the first. I'm glad." Hugo said softly, shocking Alexei to the bone when he reaching out and very carefully cupped the Slytherin's face, a single finger sliding over the man's pale cheek before the Gryffindor dropped his hand away.

"When you decide whether or not you think I fancy you we'll talk again. Good night."

)

The next day the whole school was abuzz in anticipation of the final big showdown between Gryffindor and Slytherin. The other houses were delighted to see that Alexei Dolohov, the only truly talented member of the Slytherin team, was look more than a little sleep deprived and tired. The man's teammates were pushing caffeine on him like crazy, but that seemed to only piss the seeker off which was leading to squabbling among the Quidditch team's ranks. The Gryffindors were sure to win again, everyone decided, and the mood at the majority of the tables was excited and glee.

The Slytherin seeker made a point not to so much as glance at the other tables and refused all the caffeine filled drinks they were trying to push on him. How could they not see how drinking a lot of liquids before the game could backfire on them? Was he the only one whose brain was remotely working at the moment?

Ugh.

Hugo Weasley was so going to pay for this, the Slytherin darkly mused, even though he knew that his present circumstances hadn't been the other man's attempt to sabotage him. That wasn't the Gryffindor's style.

But that didn't change the fact that he hadn't been able to sleep thanks to the thoughts and questions the Head Boy had put into his head and he wasn't any closer to sorting things out which was icing on his bitter, inedible cake.

It took effort but Alexei managed to eat a proper breakfast, getting into the pregame mindset that thankfully helped him blank out everything and everyone else as he went through the plays in his head, reminding himself of the strengths and weaknesses of both his teammates and their opponents. Today was the day, he reminded himself in a mental voice that broke no argument. Today was the day that Slytherin ended Gryffindor's winning streak and he showed everyone, including the scouts that would be at the game, just how good he really was.

He managed to keep himself in the zone all the way to the Quidditch pitch, mostly ignoring the rest of the team as they built themselves up with their version of pep talks, which largely consisted of them trying to one up each other as to who wanted to beat the Gryffindors more. None of them could possibly want this more than him but Alexei remained silent, having no intention of letting go of his focus on the game to come.

When it was time they flew out from their gate, flying around and around to the sound of applause that was largely overwhelmed by the booing coming from the other three houses. Typical that, and the Slytherin let it slide off his back like it was nothing, which it was. He could care less what they all though because he wasn't playing for them. He was playing for himself and no one else.

Taking his place in the sky Alexei tensed with readiness, his only thought to spot the golden snitch as soon as it was released and then go after it with every ounce of skill he possessed. It was his and he wouldn't tolerate the other seeker so much as putting a finger on it.

Eyes sliding over just for a moment Alexei noted that the Gryffindor seeker was paying neither him nor his teammates the least bit of attention. In fact, now that he was slipping just a little from his game mindset, Alexei noted that more than a few of the players from both sides were shooting strange, quick looks in the direction of the stands.

The Gryffindor stands.

Looking down in spite of himself Alexei's gaze scanned the crowd, within seconds spotting just what had the attention of some of the players…and pretty much half of the Gryffindors sitting on the wooden benches.

Hugo Weasley was sitting in the middle of the stands with a cousin on each side of him.

And in his hand was a Slytherin banner.


	6. Game On

Game On

The Quidditch match was definitely one of the books. It went without saying, even on the Slytherin side, that the only thing that house had going for them was Dolohov. And knowing this the Gryffindor team had basically decided that they would all make an effort to get in the Slytherin's way whenever possible, even if it meant letting other members of the man's team get past them and to the keeper's rings. Their keeper was excellent at his job, and if not it was an acceptable loss for the opposing team to score on them more than usual if it meant that their own seeker got the snitch before Dolohov.

To say Dolohov was extremely pissed was a massive understatement.

"They keep this up and he's gonna take out his wand and use our players for target practice." Personally, in the same situation, he'd have taken them out already, Louis silently acknowledged with a slightly rueful grin. He was getting incredibly frustrated just watching the game.

"That is the most likely outcome if they don't stop getting in his way. And that would not be good for them, especially if they're unconscious when they hit the ground." Shaking his head over the game Hugo was ready to predict that Alexei would lose his temper completely in approximately thirteen minutes and forty nine seconds. Bad things would happen to the Gryffindor team when that happened. Very bad things.

"Someone will use magic to cushion their falls or let them down gently. And they deserve it for playing as dirty as the average Slytherin, not to mention being stupid enough to think Dolohov would let them get away with this."

Three heads turning Louis made a sound perilously to a girlie squeal at the sight of the man making his way towards them, their fellow Gryffindors allowing the Slytherin to enter their midst since he belonged to Louis Weasley and he was so big that only an idiot would want to mess with him.

"SWEETIE!"

Lily and Hugo felt for Rory, who hated being called adorable nicknames in public. But the man loved their cousin and tolerated them for that reason. And knowing Louis like they did the two shifted and moved so that the Slytherin could take the blonde's spot, Louis happily taking his new seat on his man's lap.

Nuzzling his face against the side of Rory's head Louis forgot all about the game and his cousin's strange desire to suddenly root for the opposing team. "What are you doing here?"

"Came to see you and watch the game while I was at it." He knew where his bread was buttered after all, and not putting his boyfriend first would land him in the dog house so fast his head would spin. "I would have been here sooner but I got talking to a couple clients who are here to see their son play." And having noticed what was in Hugo's hand Rory gave the man a questioning look. "You decided to join me in rooting for the dark side?"

"I want them to win." Was the Gryffindor's simple response.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Well they keep pissing Dolohov off like this and Gryffindor will win because he'll do something that will get him thrown out of the game."

All four of them were in agreement on that.

)

Okay, he might not be able to kill them right now, too many witnesses, but if the Gryffindors didn't stop cutting him off or getting in his way he was seriously going to create a hit list and see that none of them lived to graduate from Hogwarts. At this point it was really only the thought of future payback that was keeping him from going postal and so Alexei focused on those plans and looking for the snitch, doing his best to ignore the fact that the Gryffindor seeker was sticking close, obviously intending to use him to find out where their golden target was hiding.

Flying around the pitch Alexei was feeling peeved enough to deliberate return the favor, getting in the way of a pass off that say the Quaffle fall towards the ground to be scooped up by a member of his own team. Saluting the Gryffindor who'd fumbled it the Slytherin flew back upward, weaving in and out of the other players as he generally made his ire known while looking for the snitch.

Eagle eyes looked for a glimmer that could be the bright sun bouncing off the snitch's surface, Alexei cursing the sunlight at the same time as he impatiently wiped sweat from his forehead before it could drip into his eyes. Endurance training and a stubborn constitution kept him from feeling the aches in his body from bashing it up against solid objects as he tried to escape his Gryffindor pursuers in his quest for the snitch.

Finding his prey was all that mattered at this point. Well that and holding onto his temper as long as humanly possible.

And then he saw the snitch, low to the ground with no one else close enough to stop him from reaching it. If he could get to it before it took off or outflew him he'd have it.

Adrenaline coursing through his veins Alexei pointed his broomstick down and dive bombed the snitch, his only thought, his only goal to grab the little bastard before he hit the ground.

He was going to get it or break his neck trying.

The air filled with the sounds of cursing, screams, cheering and other responses when the rest of the student body realized that he'd spotted the snitch and was going after it. But he heard none of it over the pounding of his own heard as the ground came up to meet him, Alexei's hand reaching out to close over the golden orb with complete focus while the other jerked the broom handle upward to prevent him from harpooning himself into the pitch.

Skimming over the ground with a couple inches to spare the Slytherin seeker held the snitch aloof, a wide, triumphant grin on his face as his ears rang with the noise and the sound of the announcer sadly informing everyone that Slytherin had won the Quidditch cup.

Flying up to join the rest of his team Alexei couldn't have stopped grinning if he tried, though he did give a brief hard look to one of his female teammates who looked as though she intended to hug him. So not happening, especially not in public. Back slaps only.

After congratulating each other on their win and shooting gloating looks in the direction of their Gryffindor opponents the Slytherins took off on their victory lap, not minding the lack of applause from the other houses as they celebrated their win.

Alexei couldn't help but glance down to see Hugo when they flew over his section, not really all that surprised when he saw the man on his feet clapping. He was a little surprised to see Rorake Goyle there, and took amusement from the fact that the huge man was also applauding, much to the annoyance of his boyfriend.

That Louis Weasley was peeved by his win just made it that much better in the Slytherin's book.

After the final victory lap Alexei handed over the snitch to Madame Hooch, the older woman surprising him by switching the snitch to her other hand and then holding her hand out again to shake his. Normally he wouldn't have taken it but the Slytherin respected this woman who'd been quite the Quidditch player in her day and so he shook her hand as he silently conveyed his thanks for her congratulations and acknowledgement of his skills.

He was in such a good mood that he allowed himself to be dragged off the pitch to head back to the Slytherin dormitories without a word of protest.

)

It was the day after the big match that Alexei heard his name being called by a now very familiar voice. He wasn't at all surprised when he turned around to see Hugo coming towards him, after the Slytherin banner deal Alexei couldn't imagine anything the Gryffindor doing surprising him ever again. Hugo Weasley was just plain weird and that was the undeniable truth. It was rather liberating actually, to have reached a level of calm where the thought of the other man unleashing his latest shocker didn't really bother him all that much. Not that it would stay that way, he had no doubt that within minutes of the Gryffindor opening his mouth he'd want to kill Hugo as per usual, but until then it was nice to not be acting or feeling like a cranky child.

Plus he was rather curious as to what the other man had in the bag he was carrying.

"I know I said I'd leave you alone until you came to see me but when I gave that promise I somehow forgot, which isn't at all like me as you might imagine, that there was a high probability that I would need to exchange at least a few words to you today. Will you permit me, please?"

"Since not even you could ruin my mood right now, go right ahead."

Holding the bag out to the Slytherin Hugo didn't take offense to the jab. "Congratulations on your win. I knew you would do it."

"You're psychic now?" His voice was laced with sarcasm as he took the bag, his curiosity too well developed not to. And under that was a strange, foreign feeling that compelled him to see what the other man had brought him.

"No, but I am the smartest living person at this school. All the odds were in your favor."

"And so modest." Alexei murmured, though the man really was if he was being honest. If he were as brilliant as the Gryffindor he would so rub it into other people's faces on a regular basis.

Reaching into the bag Alexei's hand closed around what felt like a glass box, about the width of his palm from what he could tell. Frowning in confusion the Slytherin got a good grip and pulled it out, eyes widening when he saw that he'd been right about what he'd been touching. It was what was inside the glass case that had him cradling the gift like it was a priceless treasure as he looked it over.

Inside the glass case, resting on a bed of silver satin, was a motionless golden snitch with wings currently folded within it. His golden snitch. For on a gold plaque, in delicate script, was an inscription that proclaimed the snitch to be the one caught by Slytherin Seeker Alexei Dolohov on yesterday's date, this winning Slytherin the Quidditch Cup.

"It's from Madame Hooch too, by the way. When I went to ask about buying it from her, usually they're sent back to their makers after the match to be remade so that they can be used again, she said that she was planning on giving it to you anyway. That she knew you'd want to have it. She really thinks a lot of your skills, she's looking forward to bragging about the fact that you were one of her students when you go professional. Anyway, when I explained about the case she agreed to give it to me and let me present it to you. Uhm…you can tell everyone it was from her if you want. I figured…you wouldn't want to say it was from me."

"You…you had this case…made for me?"

Hugo nodded his head, rocking back on his heels as he did his best to hide how pleased he was with the other man's reaction. "I was a little worried about getting the date put on, especially since there was always the chance of the game getting postponed or continuing on until the next day or later, but I decided to risk it. I knew how to change the date if necessary, though it probably would have looked a little off font wise. I didn't want to practice on it in case I couldn't undo any mistakes I might make."

It was on the tip of Alexei's tongue to ask why the other man would do this for him but he wasn't stupid, he could put two and two together. "You do fancy me, don't you? You weren't even doing a bloody experiment when you paid me ten galleons to snog you, were you? It was just a ruse so that I'd kiss you without knowing your true motive. And all the rest of it, it was just your way of getting me riled up so that I'd speak to you more. I'm right, aren't I?"

"I'm sorry to disappoint you but no, you aren't correct."

"No? What do you mean, no?"

"I don't deliberately get you riled up so that you'll pay attention to me, why would I want someone of your explosive nature angry at me? We've established the fact that I'm not suicidal as you'll recall. I just tend to rub you the wrong way while simultaneously stimulating your curiosity so that you can't help but keep coming back for more as you attempt to understand the incredibly complex workings of my often confusing brain." The Gryffindor's response rang with truthfulness. "And I really did just want to know what it would be liked to be kissed by you in comparison to others. It wasn't that I wanted to be snogged by you because I thought you would be superior to any of my previous boyfriend and girlfriends. That took me by surprise because I thought your loathing of me would mar it completely. But life is all about learning, right?"

Refusing to believe he was wrong Alexei held out the case for emphasis. "If you don't fancy me then why would you get this for me? We're not friends or family, that you fancy me is the only logical explanation."

"Following your hypothesis Madame Hooch would have to fancy you too."

The Slytherin took a moment to be a little creeped out by the idea since the flying teacher was old enough to be his grandmother before turning the conversation back to his point. "She would have given me the snitch but she wouldn't have gone to all the trouble to get me the case, which looks expensive and you had to have ordered ahead to get it in time. So why did you get it for me?"

"Because I knew it would make you happy."

Pulling dragon's teeth out would be easier than this, Alexei thought as he struggled not to snap. "And you care about my happiness because?"

"Isn't that reason enough? It's sad really, that you believe that we live in a society where people don't go a little out of their way to do something nice for someone else when the opportunity presents itself. Cost shouldn't matter in a gift. It's the thought behind it that counts."

"So what you're saying is that you just got me this for the hell of it and I shouldn't read anything into it?"

The Gryffindor shrugged his shoulders. "You can read into it what you like, but I'm saying that I didn't have an ulterior motive for giving it to you beyond making you happy."

"Okay…so you don't like me at all?"

"I didn't say that."

As per usual the twitch appeared under his eyes as a result of the long term exposure to the Gryffindor, but he wasn't going to let that stop him from getting a straight answer, especially since he needed to know how the other man really felt about him in order to know how best to go about returning things to the way they'd once been between them.

Back to the good old days when they didn't talk, Alexei thought nostalgically.

"Okay, Weasley, I'm going to make this really simple and easy for the both of us. How EXACTLY do you feel about me?"

"I'd rather not answer that question on the grounds that it will possibly lead to my untimely death."

Were they ever going to have a conversation where he didn't end up wanting to kill the man? Because right that minute he couldn't see that happening, even if they kept trying for the rest of their lives. And just thinking about a lifetime's worth of meetings like this had Alexei predicting a major headache in his immediate future.

"Why would I be upset that you don't like me? Logic dictates that that would thrill me all the way down to my evil, Slytherin bones."

"I didn't say I don't like you. I said I don't fancy you."

If it wouldn't be juvenile as hell Alexei would have lifted his hands to make strangling motions. The Gryffindor was making absolutely zero sense. Obviously the other man thought he wouldn't like the answer to his question, which logic dictated would mean that the brainiac did fancy him. But Hugo had just stated that he didn't fancy him and the man wasn't the lying type. He was usually bluntly honest. So if the man didn't fancy him, but didn't dislike him…well it wasn't that he was indifferent to him, or he wouldn't keep popping up like a bad knut. The Gryffindor didn't hate him and….uh oh…oh…OH…NO!

"You have the most fascinating facial expressions."

Very carefully Alexei set the glass case on the ground and then moved in close, setting his hands on the Gryffindor's shoulders to restrain as he stared into the other man's face. "Tell me you're not in love with me."

"I'm not in love with you."

"Okay, now tell me that you're never, EVER, going to fall in love with me. On your word, Weasley."

Hugo opened and closed his mouth, a considering look coming into his eyes as his brilliant brain went into overdrive.

When he did finally give his carefully worded answer, there was an undercurrent of wary apprehension. "I promise to do everything in my power to try not to end up in love with you."


	7. Some Slytherin Advice

Some Slytherin Advice

No matter how hard he tried to will himself to stay still and go to sleep Alexei just couldn't pull it off. He had to think and he needed to pace, dammit. And cursing those facts the Slytherin threw back his covers and retrieving some shoes from under his bed headed out of his dorm room, his intended destination the Slytherin common room where he could pace and mutter to his heart's content without waking up his roommates. He definitely didn't want to talk to them about what was bothering him.

So to say he was annoyed when he arrived at the common room to find that it wasn't deserted was more than a bit of an understatement.

The girl was sitting on one of the couches with a far off look on her face, though she turned to look at him when she sensed his presence, tensing up until she saw who it was.

"Dolohov."

"Goyle."

"What brings you out here so late?" Gabrielle Goyle asked, watching him carefully as she tracked his movements. Though she and the Slytherin seeker had never had any problems with each other she was well aware of the fact that the man could be a right nasty bit of goods when riled. Though you'd think he'd still be on cloud nine given the fact that he'd pretty much beaten the Gryffindors' Quidditch winning streak singlehandedly.

Since he had no intention of discussing his problems with this Slytherin, who had ties to the Weasley clan through her older brother, Alexei simply returned the question. "I could ask you the same."

"Weasley trouble."

"You too?" Alexei winced immediately, cursing his kneejerk reaction.

Since there were only two people with the last name Weasley at the school it wasn't hard for Gabrielle to figure out who was causing the man trouble. Louis would be too worried about possible damage to his face to deliberately cause Dolohov trouble, and Rory would have said something to her if the two were at odds. That left Hugo, who was indeed weird enough to actively seek out the man's attention with utter disregard for the possible consequences.

"So what has Hugo done or said to you that you're losing sleep over it?" Though now that she thought about it, hadn't she heard that the curly haired Gryffindor had openly cheered for Slytherin at the Quidditch Cup finals? Uh oh.

"Nothing I can't handle." Like hell he'd admit otherwise.

In her opinion Hugo Weasley might come off as a harmless, cuddly kitten, but under all that cuteness was an iron will that not even the most skilled goblins could manipulate. So as badass as Dolohov was, if someone started taking bets as to which would win in a battle of wills Gabrielle knew without a doubt that she'd put her money on the Gryffindor. Not that she had any intention of telling the man in question that.

She certainly didn't have a death wish after all.

So Gabrielle just smiled a little as she wiggled her fingers in his direction, hoping he really would leave even though that meant her curiosity wouldn't be appeased. "If you say so. Sweet dreams then."

"What do you know that I don't?" Eyes narrowing in speculation Alexei crossed his arms in front of him. "You're tight with that family, and I've seen you hang out with Hugo more than a few times. Why aren't you worried about him in the slightest? You have to know I could easily take him out if I wanted to, and that I don't have a high tolerance for people who annoy me."

Not an idiot, Gabrielle called on her Slytherin cunning to answer. "Because I figure that you're smart enough to know that paying attention to him will only encourage him, and the rest of his family, to interfere in your life more. Especially if you do anything to harm him. So you'll ignore him for the rest of the term since you know that once we graduate you won't have to see Hugo Weasley again except for maybe the occasional run in at Diagon Alley."

"He's not exactly an easy person to ignore."

The look the girl aimed in his direction was both regal and pointed. "You managed it up until a couple weeks ago, didn't you?"

Yeah, but that was before the man had paid him to snog him, Alexei thought bitterly. A brief moment in time that he seemed incapable of forgetting no matter how much he wanted to. "He's decided that he doesn't want to be ignored. He keeps popping up everywhere I go."

"Then the only other advice I can give you is to start dating someone else. He isn't the type to poach."

He wanted to tell her that it wasn't like that but it was still pretty much up in the air how the other man felt about him. No matter how hard he's tried to get a definitive answer from the Gryffindor about his feelings for him the bastard had dodged and evaded like a seasoned politician. All he'd ended up with was a massive migraine for his trouble. Would getting a date with someone really scare the other man off though? Was that what he had to do to rid himself of the man once and for all?

But did this girl know Weasley's feelings?

"How do you think Hugo Weasley feels about me? You think his interest is romantic, obviously. Why?"

"Why else would he want to be around you, if he didn't want you that way?" Was her blunt, to the point response. "He has so many friends that only someone as smart as him could keep track of them all. He doesn't need any more. The only logical explanation why he'd go after someone so different from his usual companions is that you have some appeal to him that they don't. Since it's obviously not your personality, it's got to be your looks or status as a bad boy drawing him in." Actually Hugo had way too much common sense to go after a man for such shallow reasons, but it was probably safer if Dolohov thought the attraction was based on frivolous, stupid reasons.

Insult immediately crossed the Slytherin's face. "For you information he thinks that I'm not evil, and he said that I'm original and I have strength of character." The man had also said he was sexy, but he wasn't about to tell her that.

"You actually remember what he's said about you?"

Shit. He did. Crap. That couldn't be good.

Yeah, it was definitely time to bid her good night and go back to bed, Alexei decided as he did exactly that. His brain apparently needed recharging very, very badly.

)

Due to a revelation he'd had at exactly four fifty three that morning, Alexei was determined to hunt down the man responsible for his insomnia and get a few things straight. He was hoping that his instincts were off, but he was pretty sure they weren't and the sooner he had confirmation the sooner he could…well he still hadn't worked that part out but he was working on no sleep so who could blame him? Hugo Weasley might have promised to do his level best not to fall in love with him, but he wasn't about to just trust that the Gryffindor would manage that feat. Especially since now he'd come to the conclusion that what the other man hadn't wanted to admit to during their last conversation was that he was in fact falling in love with him. It was the only possibility that rang true at this point.

Which meant he understood now why the Gryffindor had given him a headache rather than give him a straight answer.

Unfortunately it was never easy to get the man alone, the bastard really did have too many friends. And given his rep Alexei knew better than to think any of those friends would let the Gryffindor go off with him without protesting or running off to get the man's cousins who would definitely interfere in a big way. So in the end he wrote a note, made it only visible when the same password from before was used, and gave it to his sister to deliver to Weasley under the guise of it being a simple communication between a prefect and the head boy.

Not at all pleased to be used as a delivery service Alexei's sister dropped the head boy's reply off on her brother at lunch, making it clear that she was not going to deliver another message until she was clued in to why she was delivering them in the first place. Her curiosity was literally killing her, not that either man seemed to care about that, which was just wrong in her opinion since one was her brother and the other her head boy.

They were supposed to care!

Ignoring her grumbles and pouting Alexei just waved her off and opened the message once she had stomped out of sight, frowning when he saw that the message explained that the Gryffindor wouldn't be able to meet him after dinner because he had to fill in for a sick prefect on patrol duties. Instead Weasley suggested they either get together after dinner tomorrow, which didn't suit him in the slightest, or The Know-it-all was willing to meet him in front of the passage leading to the Slytherin dormitories after he was done patrolling. The note ended with the statement that the Gryffindor intended to stop by the passage that night, and if he wasn't there would assume their meeting was on for the next day as he was pretty sure that their messenger would not tolerate being used anymore, even if bribed.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, the Slytherin thought as he folded up the piece of parchment, shoving it in his robe pocket to be destroyed later. He definitely didn't want to talk to the Gryffindor so close to his dorms, but he also didn't want to have to wait over twenty four hours to get some answers either.

His sister wasn't the only one with patience issues.

Crap, Alexei mentally cursed as he grudgingly accepted the fact that he was going to have to be waiting for the damn Gryffindor to show up that night to meet him. Oh but he better get the answers he was looking for instead of a headache or there was going to be hell to pay this time around.

After all, his patience issues were nothing in comparison to his anger issues.

)

So Alexei found himself waiting for the Gryffindor that night, the Slytherin leaning against the cool stone wall just inside the opening, not wanting to draw any attention to himself in case someone should pass by. Given the hour he really shouldn't be out and about, and it wouldn't be good for anyone to question him at the moment given his present mood. He preferred to save all of his considerable wrath for his late night visitor, thank you very much, the Slytherin thought darkly as he absently checked his pocket watch for the time, dropping it back into his robe pocket when he heard the sound of footsteps coming his way.

His ears picking up the slight irregularity of the gait of whoever was coming towards him Alexei frowned, concentrating solely on his hearing. The steps were becoming more uniform the closer they got, which suggested that whoever was approaching was altering his or her walking.

When Hugo Weasley appeared at the opening the Gryffindor gave him a puzzled look. "You look surprised to see me."

"Why were you walking oddly?" Alexei returned, eyes narrowed and thoughtful.

Mouthing opening Hugo immediately closed it as he mentally answered the question he was going to ask. His steps would have echoed off the stone floor and walls, and the Slytherin had been lying in wait for him. Of course he would have been paying enough attention to pick up his strides' current inconsistencies.

"It's nothing. What did you wish to discuss with me?"

Not buying it was nothing, he was a Slytherin and therefore suspicious by nature, Alexei gave the other man a thorough once over, spotting two small hints of crimson red on the white dress shirt. "Are you bleeding somewhere?"

Immediately turning his attention to where the Slytherin was looking Hugo frowned. "Crud. I did get some on my shirt. Ah well, it's not so bad."

Guessing the most likely way the blood had gotten there Alexei moved forward and grabbed each of Hugo's wrists, turning them so that he could get a look at the other man's hands. As he expected they were both scraped up, though the bleeding had mostly stopped. And putting that together with the man's former, uneven gait… "You fell earlier, didn't you?"

"Peeves decided it would be fun to sneak up behind me and smash two pots together as hard as he could while I was patrolling. I stumbled and landed the wrong way. I'll be fine, I'm used to it. When you have feet as big as mine you get used to tripping over them on a regular basis." Not for a moment did the Gryffindor's face reveal the slightest discomfort.

"You were favoring your right leg."

"You must have ears like a cat's. Which suits you, as you do often remind me of a cat."

Alexei's lips curved into a smirk. "You should be thankful I'm not or I would have clawed you to ribbons by now."

Nodding in agreement that that was indeed a possibility Hugo decided a change in topic was needed and once again pointed out that they really should get to the reason behind this arranged meeting since they both needed to get back to their respective dormitories as soon as possible.

Since he didn't want to appear that he cared overly about how badly the man's leg was or wasn't hurt Alexei decided to get straight to the point. "I was thinking about what you said and how you said it, about how you feel for me. You're falling for me, aren't you? That's what you were trying so hard not to say, wasn't it?"

"I had a feeling it probably wasn't for the best that I not see to my injuries before coming here." Was Hugo's rueful, resigned response. "My leg would still be damaged even if I turned into my animagi form, not to mention the fact that that would put me at a serious disadvantage in terms of being able to defend myself." Hugo muttered to himself, knowing the man could hear him well enough but being too peeved over the fact that the Slytherin had discovered his little secret to care at the moment.

"Most people would consider it the height of stupidity to face off against a Slytherin already wounded."

The Gryffindor's grumbled his response. "I didn't want to keep you waiting."

Taking the man's response to indicate that he was right, Merlin help him, Alexei took a deep breath and pointed a threatening finger Hugo's direction. "Now that we've got your feelings figured out I command you to stop falling for me this instant, Weasley, or I'm really going to have to hurt you."

"Given my unfortunate feelings for you I believe that's going to happen whether you do it deliberately or not." Hugo informed the Slytherin in a very matter of fact tone of voice. "And if strong feelings were easy to turn on and off…well I would imagine this world would be even more chaotic than it already is. I can understand and agree with you wholeheartedly about our many incompatibilities and that not caring for you would be the rational thing to do, but a heart doesn't take that into consideration. It's one of the ways it lets us know what we're feeling is real."

"I have no idea what you mean."

"Well think about it, how many couples do you know out there that started out thinking that the eventual love of their lives was perfect for them? I mean my father thought my mother was an annoying know-it-all and she thought he was an idiot. Everyone starts out with this idealized version of who they want their special someone to be, but more often than not, if they're lucky, they realize that you have to find the person who's right for you instead. Not perfect, because no one's perfect. That's how you know it's real and true. When all the things that make that person 'flawed' or 'wrong for you' don't matter to you. Doesn't matter because what you have together outweighs all the other stuff."

Very uncomfortable with where this conversation was going Alexei glared, as always dropping all the blame squarely on the other man's shoulders. "Just do us both a favor, Weasley, and concentrate on all the things you don't like about me then."

"Oh I am. I've come up with a list of sixty seven things I don't like about you. I'm adding to it every day."

"Sixty seven?"

Hugo nodded his head as he made a sound of confirmation.

The twitch returning, as always, Alexei could all but feel his temperature begin to spike at the audacity of the Gryffindor. Sixty seven? Sixty seven flaws? As if! Who the hell did this son of a bitch think he was, suggesting that there was anything remotely wrong with him? Hell, the damn four eyed geek couldn't do better than him in a million years! And if he made a list of all the Gryffindor's flaws you could bet that it would be a lot longer and far more severe than his own, he refused to believe otherwise. In fact he was going to start a damn list of his own, see how he liked that!

Reading the man's thoughts easily enough Hugo patiently waited while the Slytherin had his raging inner monologue, knowing the man well enough to know that it was better for both their sakes that he not comment or say anything at all until Alexei had a firmer grip on his considerable temper.

Which meant, Hugo thought ruefully, that they could be there all night.


	8. Flawed Planning

Flawed Planning

Finally reining in his temper enough that he could see straight, though there was still a slight haze at the edges, Alexei turned his venomous gaze on the Gryffindor who was the cause of all of his recent headaches and confusion. And as much as he told himself that he shouldn't ask, he really didn't want to end up in Azkaban for the redhead's murder after all, Alexei just couldn't help himself. "Just what are all these bloody flaws I have, anyway?"

"I think it would be best if we didn't go into those. The last list I gave you upset you quite a bit as you'll no doubt recall."

"True, but hearing your list will make me hate you that much more which could only be a good thing in this situation."

"But I don't want you to hate me." Hugo countered. "I mean I might not be overly pleased that my heart seems to have set its sights on you, but you hating me would really only make the situation that much worse for me. And that aside…well wouldn't it hurt your feelings, hearing bad things said about you? I don't like to do that people, especially on purpose."

Gryffindors. "The words would only hurt if I actually cared what you think of me, you idiot."

"Ah, but if you didn't care what I thought about you then you wouldn't want to hear the list, now would you. So you do care, whether you want to or not."

The look that came into the Slytherin's eyes abruptly convinced Hugo that he did need to rhyme off some of the flaws on his list before the shorter man attempted to get the answers from him by force. And while he didn't find the idea of them rolling around on the floor while they tussled a horrible idea, he doubted the Slytherin would have any interest in kissing any wounds he received better afterwards.

He was already wounded for that matter, and the sooner he ended his conversation with the other man the sooner he could tend to them properly.

So he'd stick with the small irritations and avoid the ones that he actually would have to work on getting used to.

"I don't like the fact that you deliberately scare the hell out of the first years at the start of every year, or that you've decided to dedicate yourself to playing a dangerous sport in a position that receives the most injuries of any of the players. I don't like that you're so fussy about your food touching, and it's really annoying the way you buy jellybeans and only eat the red ones and then throw the rest away. That's just plain wasteful."

And so the list went on, with a stunned Alexei learning that the Gryffindor had been paying far more attention to him than he'd ever realized, though some of the things on the list were so utterly ridiculous that he actually wanted to laugh. Honestly, the man considered the fact that he left books on whatever table in the library he'd been using instead of putting them back on the shelf himself a serious flaw. He knew how into books the Gryffindor was but seriously, that was just a stupid thing to have on his list, just like the jellybeans and the fact that he didn't wear much color which was apparently depressing to those around him.

Obviously realizing that he needed to stop before he really got going Hugo put out his last complaint for the evening. "And you should also be nicer to your sister. She might not be the most…loveable person in the world but she's still your little sister and it's up to you to set a good example for her."

"She really doesn't like you."

"I'm aware of that, believe me."

Alexei's lips curved into a genuine grin. "And for your information I'm actually an outstanding brother by Dolohov standards. I haven't maimed or attempted to kill the brat yet, even when provoked. There aren't a lot of us that can say that."

A thoughtful look came into the Gryffindor's eyes. "Well that would explain some of the entries in your family tree."

"You looked into my family tree!" Alexei demanded to know, instinctively moving forward to crowd in on the other man to get his answers.

Instinctively trying to take a couple steps back to keep some distance between them the Gryffindor yelped in pain, stumbling backward only to be yanked back up by the Slytherin, who'd instinctively reached out to stop the other man from falling again.

The pain signals that were screaming in his head had Hugo placing a hand on Alexei's shoulder for support without considering the possible consequences, thinking only to be able to lift his injured leg up so that there was no weight being put on it while he cursed under his breath as he struggled and failed to hide how much it hurt.

"Well hell, how much damage did you do to it?" Forgetting that he really didn't like the man using him as a crutch the Slytherin helped Hugo over to a nearby bench, the Gryffindor collapsing into it with a grateful sigh of thanks.

"I'll be fine." Hugo informed him, wisely not calling any attention to the fact that the other man had just helped him. The Slytherin knew where his weakness was at the moment and he wouldn't put it past the man to kick his ankle just to regain lost ground between them.

"That's what you said before and you were obviously lying through your pearly whites." And since he was fairly sure he was correct in thinking that the Gryffindor had sprained something he knelt down in front of his headache maker and lifted the hem of the man's trousers up on the right side to get a look at the man's ankle, which was all wrapped up. "I thought you said you hadn't treated your injury yet." The Gryffindor had done a good job on the wrapping, he didn't want to undo it unless necessary.

"Did I? I must have misspoken. My apologies."

Not believing that for a moment Alexei rocked back on his heels for a moment, imagining the most likely sequence of events when Peeves had pulled his prank on the Gryffindor. And with that in mind the Slytherin jerked the trouser leg up further to reveal the knee, which was most definitely not okay. It was a mass of fresh bruises that suggested that the other man must have hit it hard against the stone floor when he landed. It was badly swollen and had to hurt like hell.

"I uhm…numbed the area but the effects are…wearing off. But it's no big deal, really. I've had much worse."

About to launch into a lecture about the importance of taking care of injuries immediately so as not to aggravate the injured area or increase the damage, Alexei blinked in shock as it hit him what he'd been about to do. What he'd already done.

Fuck.

Once again reading the man's thoughts as clearly as if the Slytherin had written them on his face Hugo pretended he wasn't at all aware of the fact that for a brief few moments the man had been kind and had shown something resembling concern for him. "Since I don't think you really want to stand around listening to me list all your faults, because who would, can I assume that this discussion is over for the time being and I can retire to my tower without you stopping me?"

"How the bloody hell do you even think you're going to get that far on that leg? You can't possibly walk on it all that way." Alexei demanded to know, his voice sharp as he stood up and moved to put some space between them as he sneered at the very idea that the Gryffindor could pull that off without help. Not that he was going to offer any help of course. No way in hell.

"Oh I'll manage. Good night then."

Not liking the fact that he was essentially being dismissed by the other man Alexei crossed his arms in front of him stubbornly. "I'm not leaving till I watch you make an arse of yourself trying to hobble out of here."

"Sorry, but you won't be able to observe my arse at all. I didn't get all the way here by walking you know." And with a grin replacing the pained look that had marked his face earlier Hugo drew his wand and pointed it to the side of him, using a non-verbal spell to make a very comfortable looking leather recliner appear there.

Gingerly getting up from the bench Hugo shift over while dragging his injured leg, taking a seat on the chair before reaching down to pull the knob that had the footrest coming up to better support his legs.

Then, with another wave of his wand, Hugo caused the recliner to lift a couple inches off the ground.

"Till we meet again, Mr. Dolohov."

And without waiting for the reply he knew wouldn't come Hugo directed the chair to start flying slowly in the direction he needed to go to make his way to his dormitories.

Watching the Gryffindor go Alexei admitted to himself that the other man did have a certain style to him.

Not that he'd ever tell him so.

)

The next day, in order to make up for his brief lapse in sanity, Alexei sat down in the Slytherin common room and getting out a fresh piece of parchment, his ink and quill, settled in to begin his own list of Hugo Weasley's faults, determined that his list would be longer and far more harsher than the one the Gryffindor had concocted for him. Starting with the most obvious grievances Alexei paused after the third one, frowning down at it before crumpling it up. The list had to be faults that applied strictly to the other man, the fact that he was a Gryffindor and a Weasley didn't really apply then. So the fact that the man was a headache in the making became number one and his list went on from there.

"What are you doing?"

Not bothering to look up from what he was doing Alexei finished writing out the fact that the other man didn't play Quidditch before answering his sister. "I'm writing a list of all the things wrong with Hugo Weasley."

"He smiles too much. And he has some magic power that allows him to make everyone who's nasty to him feel like the most heinous creature on earth for being unkind to him." Her tone of voice indicated she knew the latter from personal experience. It was why she'd played messenger for the damn Gryffindor without complaining. Because as hard as she tried to emulate her brother he really was the only person she knew who could be as nasty to the head boy as he wanted without feeling unbearably guilty.

Adding those to the list Alexei wouldn't admit, even to save his own life, that he had felt bad the time he'd hurt Weasley's feelings because he'd said that he found the man more annoying than that Ravenclaw guy. He could also think of other times in the past that that had happened, but like most of his kind he'd avoided confrontations with the notorious Gryffindor for that reason. He'd had his rep to think about after all.

"Why are you writing a list?"

"Revenge. He's come up with sixty seven things that are apparently wrong with me, I'm going to come up with more or kill him after trying."

Grinning at the twist her older brother had put on the saying, it was just so him really, the girl took a seat beside him and volunteered to lend her services in adding to the list.

"Sure." A considering look coming into his eyes Alexei glanced over in her direction. "Weasley thinks one of my flaws is that I'm not as nice to you as I should be."

She snorted in response. "Typical Weasley, thinking everyone related by blood should spend their time holding hands and giggling like a bunch of idiot school girls with each other."

"My thoughts exactly."

The two siblings were quite happy to while away an hour coming up with what they considered flaws in the Gryffindor character, getting increasingly creative as time went by since it was so much easier to be nasty about the man when he wasn't around to react.

Later on neither could remember spending such an enjoyable hour in the other's company before.

)

It took him the rest of the week, and in the end he had to add the fact that Hugo was a Weasley and a Gryffindor on the list to make it work, but by Saturday Alexei had a list of seventy of the man's faults and it was all written out and ready to be shoved in the brainiac's face. To say it had been a grueling, mind wracking, headache inducing exercise would be an understatement, but where there was a will there was a way. And no one could say that Alexei Dolohov didn't have a will of iron once he'd set his mind to something.

So that morning Alexei had every intention of waylaying the Gryffindor after breakfast, getting the other man alone, and then handing over the list with smug satisfaction.

As planned he was waiting outside the Great Hall when the man came walking out of the room, but when he approached the Gryffindor and informed him that he wanted a few minutes of his time Alexei was less then pleased when he was informed that the other man couldn't stay and chat because he had a meeting with the headmaster to discuss something important.

Having a fairly good idea what the Slytherin was up to, the man could be remarkably predictable when it came to certain things, Hugo offered to meet the man in two hours anyway. Better for them both if Dolohov got it out of his system before someone else took the brunt of the man's considerable temper.

Grudgingly Alexei agreed to the delayed meeting since he'd look like an idiot, demanding that the man cancel his meeting with the Headmaster. But he made it clear that the Gryffindor better not be late or else, which for some reason seemed to amuse the four eyed Weasley quite a bit.

Wisely he opted to leave then before he gave in the urge to personally wipe that half smile off the man's face.

The Slytherin arrived at the appointed time two hours later to find Hugo waiting for him, raising an eyebrow when the Gryffindor opened the nearby classroom door and motioned for him to come inside. "That should be locked up."

"I'm Head Boy. There are very few places in this school I'm not allowed to go."

Absently wondering just what sort of privileges his sister had as a prefect, he'd never cared enough to ask before, Alexei mentally mused that perhaps he'd ask her the next time he saw her. Though it was a little late to take advantage of that, since he was too busy studying for his NEWTS to make use of the various rooms she might gain him access to.

Stepping into the classroom Alexei walked over to sit on top of the teacher's desk, waiting for the Gryffindor to lock the door and follow him over before he pulled out the sheets of parchment from his pocket, waving them in the other man's direction like they were a fan. "Got a present for you."

Fighting back his amusement even though he knew there were bound to be things on that list that would hurt his feelings, Hugo reached out and took the offered parchment. "So how many are on here?" He asked out of curiosity, studying the Slytherin as opposed to the list for the moment.

It was, after all, a very rare thing for him to see the man in such a good mood while in his presence.

"Seventy."

"Ah. So my list in still longer."

Jaw dropping Alexei stared at the Gryffindor with body language that suggested barely contained outrage. "The hell you say. My list was only sixty seven things, you said."

"You thought I would go this whole week without adding to it?"

Having honestly not considered that possibility, and mentally kicking himself for that oversight, Alexei thrust a hand out commandingly. "Give them back then. I'll add to them too."

The Gryffindor had no intention of doing so, especially since he hadn't had a chance to read over the list yet. And just in case it needed to be stated…"I can continue to add to yours too, you know. And I've had a significant head start on this."

Fuming over that Alexei glared at Hugo as he tried to think of how he could fix this.

And while the Slytherin fumed Hugo took advantage of the other man's preoccupation and lowered his gaze to the list, reading over his list of 'flaws' with a growing smile that he couldn't hide no matter how much his brain cautioned him to do so. Because while it was true that a few of the complaints hurt and made him wince, by and large most of them had his smile returning fairly quickly. He smiled too much? Was too affectionate towards others? Tended to give people massive headaches with his stupid vocabulary?

And then he got to the forty eighth item on his list, the words there causing his eyebrows to rise as he looked up from the parchment for the first time to meet the Slytherin's gaze. "You have no way of knowing the validity of the forty eighth item on this list. Since I doubted you interviewed those I've been involved with romantically you have no way of knowing whether or not I am or am not a bad kisser." Knowing what the man was likely to respond with Hugo held up a silencing finger. "You kissed me without allowing me to participate."

Hugo paused for emphasis and then added. "That kiss reflected your skills, not mine."


	9. Another Stupid Bet

Another Stupid Bet

They were really back to the idiot criticizing his snogging technique, really? Could the Gryffindor actually be that dumb despite everyone pretty much believing that the guy was as much a certified genius as he was a nutcase? Yes, yes he could be, Alexei decided as he glared at the man in question, slowly wrapping his mind around the fact that he was once again being called a bad kisser by a man who couldn't hold onto a date for more than two weeks.

When the Slytherin said as much Hugo pointed out very reasonably that he was usually the one doing the dumping and therefore that really didn't reflect badly on him, at least not in regards to his ability to kiss.

"I hate you."

"You know, some people believe that hating someone is actually very pointless since it really only hurts you instead of the person. Unless of course you kill or maim the person you hate, but even then, you're hurting yourself too because you did such a horrible thing in the first place."

Only a Gryffindor would say something so lame. And maybe a Hufflepuff. Definitely a Hufflepuff, Alexei decided as he rolled his eyes.

"So is this exercise and futility over then?" The Gryffindor inquired, not backing down under the hotness of the Slytherins' glare. "I just mean that arguing this point is probably pointless since you won't take my word for it when it comes to my snogging abilities and you certainly would never allow me to prove my point. Not even if I bet you ten galleons again on it."

"I don't need money, even easy money at the moment." Plus he wasn't stupid, he'd learned from the last time he'd let himself be talked into locking lips with the bastard for a measly ten friggin galleons.

"Exactly. And you're far too cautious and worried about what you would or wouldn't feel being snogged by me to dare try it."

"WHAT!"

Wincing hard Hugo rubbed his ears, which had just been blasted harder than he could ever recall them being blasted before. He might even experience temporary hearing loss, the Gryffindor marveled, impressed by the deafening decibel the other man's voice could apparently reach. Most unusual in a male, to be able to hit a note that high.

Getting off the desk with fury radiating off of him the Slytherin reached out and poked Hugo hard in the chest. "DID YOU JUST INSINUATE THAT I WAS AFRAID TO BE SNOGGED BY YOU?"

Okay, his hearing wasn't completely gone, but that was probably only temporary if the man continued to yell quite so loudly. "I believe the words I used were' cautious' and 'worried', not 'afraid'."

"THAT BASICALLY MEANS THE SAME THING!"

"Actually, no, it really doesn't. Cautious, by its root definition, means having or showing care, thoughtfulness, restraint, and lacking haste, while worried is defined as to feel anxious about something unpleasant that has happened or may happen."

The sound Alexei made echoed in the empty classroom like a minor explosion.

"Huh, so that's what you sound like when you scream. Not quite how I imagined it."

The matter of fact statement someone cut through Alexei's rage like a knife, his mind unable to comprehend why the Gryffindor would possibly be imagining what he would sound like screaming. Not that he had just screamed, he'd yelled, but still, he had to ask. "Why would you imagine how I sound screaming?"

Lips twitching Hugo manly fought the smile Alexei could see struggling to form. "I have a very overactive imagination, especially when I'm dreaming. You'd be amazed what things my mind has concocted for my entertainment. I once dreamed that I was in a world where everyone I knew had taken on animal characteristics and I had bunny ears and a tail. You were a wolf, in case you're interested."

"Did I eat you?"

"Uhmm…no."

"Then I don't care."

"Fair enough."

Silence descended on them again, Alexei trying to remember how they'd gotten on this topic of conversation while Hugo studied the Slytherin, knowing he had to be on guard since the man's next fit of fury couldn't be long coming.

He wasn't wrong to think so.

Eyes narrowing into mere slits Alexei's whole body tensed as he prepared to go for the other man's throat if he didn't like the next words that came out of his mouth. "You need to take back your 'cautious' and 'worried' statements. NOW."

Not liking the man's body language one little bit Hugo thought that it was indeed in his best interests to do so. "I wholeheartedly take back my unfortunate phrasing which inadvertently upset you, which was not my intention."

"And you're a lousy snogger."

"Is that really necessary? I don't like to lie."

"It's not a lie, it's the bloody truth!"

Hugo was shaking his head before Alexei's was done speaking. "No, it's not."

"It is and I would bet fifty fucking galleons that you are the worst snogger I have ever had the fucking misfortune to encounter in all my years on this friggin planet!"

"I'll take that bet."

)

Opening his mouth to take back his words since he'd realized how incredibly stupid they were even as they slipped out, Alexei never got the chance as the Gryffindor swooped in with predator speed. He barely had time to make a sound embarrassingly close to a squeak before the other man's hands were framing his face, holding it there as Hugo Weasley lowered his head and pressed his lips against his, effectively cutting off his intended rant. Reaching out Alexei dug his fingers into the other man's upper arms automatically, his grip painful as he tried to push the Gryffindor away but his strength seemed to have deserted him, just like his ability to hold his dark and outraged thoughts as the shock continued to flood his brain, preventing him from being able to understand what was happening to him and why he should put a stop to it.

And then slowly the pleasure seeped through to combine with the shock, gradually overwhelming it so that instead of shock, the delicious way he was being thoroughly snogged was all Alexei could think about as his eyes fluttered closed.

His mind blocking out who he was being snogged by for the sake of his sanity, Alexei began to return the heated exchanges of lips and tongues, instinct and desire overriding everything else but a need for more. Moaning low in his throat the Slytherin raised one hand up to dive his fingers into the man's hair, luxuriating in the thick curls that clung to his fingers as he got up on his tip toes to better fit their bodies together, pleased when the other man's arm wrapped around his waist to keep him there.

Passionate snogging continuing Alexei didn't even realize he was subtly being move back until he felt the desk behind him, instinct having him shifting up to take a seat on the flat surface so that he wouldn't have to remain on his toes. In some corner of his mind the Slytherin heard the other man groan his approval at the action, but he was too busy sucking on the guy's tongue to appreciate the sound.

He was also only dimly aware of the man's hands on his thighs, pushing them apart, but when he felt the man's hips brush against them as he moved between them Alexei tightened his thighs, not wanting him to go anywhere until he was done with him.

Which could be a very, very long time.

Or at least that was what he was thinking right up until the man's lips left his and started trailing along his jaw, the other man saying his name in a voice husky with passion.

A voice he still recognized.

Eyes flashing open as the horror of his realization overshadowed the passion and shock in one fatal swoop Alexei brain screamed at him who he was allowing to kiss him, touch him. TO STAND BETWEEN HIS THIGHS IN A HIGHLY SUGGESTIVE MANNER!

"SON OF A MUGGLE!"

Immediately pushing the Gryffindor away from him, succeeding this time, Alexei reached for his wand and pulling it out took aim in the direction Hugo had been only moments before but was no longer, as the man had apparently decided to disappear from sight.

Since there was no way the man could have dissipated within the castle walls it stood to reason that the bastard was still in the room, having made himself invisible to prevent himself from being blasted into the next millennia.

Which meant all he had to do was stake out the door and wait for his shot, Alexei decided as he moved to do just that, leaning his back against it with his wand at the ready. First a body binding curse, then a memory wiper, and then…well he wasn't quite sure how he was going to punish the Gryffindor for mentally scarring him for life but he'd think of something when the time came.

But seriously, how could he have just let himself be snogged by Hugo Weasley? The mind boggled. It defied all common sense and logic. The man had to have slipped him something other than his tongue when he wasn't paying attention.

Thinking about the creative and lust inducing things that tongue had done inside his mouth had Alexei fighting back the desire to just burn the whole flippin room down around them both.

Minutes passed by and with every tick of the clock in the room the Slytherin's already highly compromised patience and self-control wore thinner and thinner, Alexei torn between the need to just randomly open fire with various curses and jinxes in the hopes of hitting the Gryffindor, or getting the hell out of there to compose himself and come up with a better plan where he was likely to get away scot free after he'd permanently removed Hugo Weasley from his life. The second was the better idea, he knew, but it was too much like running away and he'd be damned if he had to add that to his list of grievous sins committed in the last twenty minutes.

"I'm willing to forgo you paying me fifty galleons in exchange for immunity from your wrath for what happened earlier. Thoughts?"

Eyes narrowing Alexei tried to figure out where the voice had come from but trusted the man to have the sense to have already moved anyway. And thinking over what the Gryffindor had stated the Slytherin scowled.

"Who says you won, Weasley?"

"The fact that that wasn't a wand in your pocket?"

Mouth dropping open Alexei sputtered his fury and horror, too thrown by what the man had just thrown in his face to speak words, much less coherent sentences.

"I probably shouldn't have said that."

"NO SHIT!"

Silence descended once more.

)

Three hours later

Alexei turned his head slightly at the sound of knocking at the door, making a face when he clearly heard the voices of Lily Potter and Louis Weasley on the other side. Apparently they knew their cousin was in the classroom and were…threatening to blow open the door if it wasn't opened at once. And not doubting it for a second the Slytherin tried to move out of the way fast enough but thanks to the lack of sufficient warning he was too late. The door slammed into his head as it flew open and the Slytherin hit the floor quite unconscious.

Hurrying in with wands drawn the two Gryffindors immediately noticed Alexei lying unconscious on the floor.

"Is he all right?"

Both Gryffindors turned their attention to Hugo, who hurried over to kneel beside the Slytherin they'd apparently just knocked out with the door.

"Who cares, are you all right? You were supposed to meet us ages ago and the Map said you were here with him. What happened?" Louis demanded to know as he watched his cousin check out the bump forming on the back of the Slytherin's head.

"Sorry to stand you both up, it wasn't intentional. Or at least not technically." Reassured that the man would be just fine Hugo's thoughts turned to how he was going to go about getting the Slytherin to the Medical Wing without inciting his wrath further. "You could say that Dolohov and I were having a bit of a silent standoff when you lot interrupted. It was surprising really, he only exploded with temper seventeen times in the last three hours. The rest of the time he was dead silent, which didn't bode well for my continued existence on the planet, but does show growth in his ability to stand being in my company for long stretches of time which is heartening."

Lily shook her head, unable to wrap her head around it. Which wasn't unusual where Hugo was concerned, but still…what was going on between her cousin and Dolohov, seriously? "How the hell could you two have survived being alone in a room together for that long without him killing you?"

"I was invisible so he didn't know where to aim."

Well that explained that, the two Gryffindors thought, sharing a knowing look with the other.

"Thanks for coming in to rescue me, by the way. I came up with numerous ways to possibly get past him but most of them ended with him being even more angry at me than he already was. He should come around shortly, so it would probably be for the best if you weren't around then. I'll take him to the Medical Wing to be looked over, plus he'll need a potion to deal with the headache he'll be waking up to. Apparently I give him frequent headaches, so that plus the door pretty much guarantees that he'll have quite a painful one when he wakes."

"Mate, that's more reason for us NOT to leave you alone with him." Louis pointed out. "Now since you have more of a conscience than Lily and I put together you won't let us just leave him here so we'll help you get him medical attention and then we're all leaving together since Dewey and I are your bodyguards for the foreseeable future. Again."

Knowing better than to argue, especially since that would up the odds that the Slytherin would wake up or take a turn for the worse before they got him to the Medical Wing, Hugo nodded his agreement and thanked them for their help once again.

)

Waking up with a pounding headache Alexei was blaming Hugo Weasley even before his mind started sorting through his mental recollections in search of the memories that would explain just what the Gryffindor had said to him that had caused his brain to all but explode as a result. And then the pieces of his memory started to fall into place and horror replaced the general annoyance he felt whenever he thought too much about Hugo, the Slytherin groaning in despair at the images as he covered his face with his hands as if to block it all out.

"Wow, they hit you pretty hard with the door, didn't they?"

Oh great, his sister was here too.

Spreading his fingers out on his right hand Alexei peered through the gap at her. "What are you doing here? And where is here, exactly?" He wasn't in his room, or if he was he was in deeper shock then he realized.

"You're in the Medical Wing, Brother Dear. Hugo Weasley sent for me. Apparently he thought I should be notified that you'd been injured and therefore required me to come and sit by your bedside while you sawed logs. One of his attempts to make us bond, probably. Anyway you got hit in the head with a door, hence the massive headache you appear to be suffering." The girl shifted and grabbed a container off the bedside table, holding it out to him. "I was told to give you this when you woke up. It will deal with the headache."

Taking it from her Alexei removed the stopper and quickly drained the contents, refusing to make a face over the disgusting taste. "How long have I been here?"

"A little over half an hour. I figured I'd give you the full hour then split if you weren't conscious by then."

Coming from her that was practically a love confession, Alexei thought with the faintest of smiles, appreciating the fact that she'd even bothered to show up. He would possibly have dropped by to check on her if the situation were reversed, but he probably wouldn't have stuck around unless he had a reason to think his presence was required for her continued well being.

Reaching into her trouser pocket Alexei's sister grasped the piece of paper and pulled it out, holding it out to her brother. "Weasley also asked me to give you this. I think I should be allowed to read it once you make the words visible seeing as I stuck around to babysit you."

Ah, that explained why she'd stuck around, Alexei thought darkly, snatching the folded parchment from her. She'd just wanted her curiosity about the notes he'd been passing with Weasley to be appeased. "No. Beat it."

"Hey! That's not fair!"

"Life's not fair. Deal with it."

"I'm telling everyone that will listen that you got taken out by Louis Weasley." She shot back with Slytherin venom, giving him one last look of frustrated fury before marching out of the room with much huffing and foot stomping.

"I hate Weasleys." Alexei muttered, already adding Louis to his shit list as he retrieved his wand from the bedside table, using it to make the words appear since it would drive him nuts waiting to see what the son of a bitch had written there.

And before his eyes the message formed, though not a single letter appeared. Instead, the message was one line and read as follows,

94/100


	10. The Perfect Solution

The Perfect Solution

Heading out of the Medical Wing Alexei was pissed and primed for a fight. He was definitely capable of killing the Gryffindor in the mood he was in and for the moment he couldn't think of a single reason why he shouldn't strangle the other man to death with his bare hands. The damn letter had just been icing on the cake really, the thing that had tipped the scales and made him realize that the only way he was going to be able to retain his sanity and keep his head from exploding was to insure that Hugo Weasley ceased to exist in his world.

Ninety four. He'd gotten a friggin ninety four. And the bastard hadn't even had the decency to write it all out for him so that he'd know how he'd gotten that score in the first place. Not that he cared of course, he could care less what the man thought of his kissing his ability. He'd decided that long ago and he was a Slytherin who stuck by his decisions.

So he didn't care…he was just curious.

Especially since he'd deserved a perfect score, Alexei thought as he ignored the wary looks he was getting from the classmates he was passing. There was just no way that the snogging they'd done in the classroom could be surpassed so simple, elementary logic dictated that-WHAT THE HELL WAS HE THINKING?

Making a sound of horrified frustration the Slytherin looked around for something to throw or damage only to find that his fellow students had mysteriously seemed to have disappeared completely from his vicinity, which was just a pity.

Reining in his anger Alexei forced himself to keep moving, his destination the school's library. It was the one place in the castle besides the Gryffindor tower that he knew he stood a chance of finding the man. And since he couldn't go to the tower he'd go to the library, scope it out, and if the Weasley spawn wasn't there he'd just have to ambush the man after supper somehow. It wouldn't be easy since the man's cousins would probably be guarding him, but he had no problem taking them out.

Lily Potter might be a female in body, but she wasn't a girl when it came to brass and fighting skills. He was allowed to injure her slightly. And if his grandmothers got upset over the news that he'd harmed a girl he'd just tell them she was Potter and he'd be off the hook in a snap.

Cheered up by the thought Alexei's mood brightened enough that he didn't send any more of his peers fleeing from his sight, the Slytherin arriving at the library without an aura that didn't boldly advertise the fact that he was in a homicidal mood.

Moving in and out of the stacks with predator grace Alexei finally spotted the Gryffindor, a pleased gleam coming into his eyes even though he was a little disappointed that the man wasn't alone. But the boy sitting at the table beside his headache causer didn't look to be much older than eleven or twelve, getting rid of him wouldn't be much of a problem.

Obviously sensing him Alexei watched as the other man looked up and over at him, meeting his gaze briefly before turning his head to say something to the boy beside him who nodded in response.

And then the Gryffindor was rising out of his chair and walking around the table towards him, his usually expressive face completely shut down so that not a hint of emotion showed.

Coming to a stop in front of him the other man got straight to the point. "There are too many people around. Give me twenty minutes to finish up here and then I'll meet you wherever you choose."

That being just fine with him Alexei named the place and then left without a backward glance.

)

Watching the Gryffindor approach with a great deal more care than he would have ordinarily Alexei studied both the man and their surroundings cautiously, wanting to make sure that Hugo hadn't brought any surprises with him. But no, it appeared that they were alone and the prat wasn't even holding his wand at the ready. He was rather insulted by that fact and would have told the other man so were it not for the fact that he didn't want to tip the Gryffindor off right away that he was going to be needing it shortly.

Hugo watched him just as closely as he kept up his leisurely pace, making no sign that he was remotely aware of the danger he was in.

"I'm prepared to take my punishment."

Not quite sure how to take the Gryffindor's quiet, firm statement, Alexei went still. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I'm prepared to accept whatever punishment you deem fit without any attempt to protect myself or stop you. What I did was unforgiveable and I deserve to be punishment for it."

Okay…what the hell was going on here? What was the idiot talking about? Not that he disagreed with the fact that the man deserved to get the crap kicked out of him, because he did, but what did Weasley think he deserved to be punished for? Had the man done something else to him and he hadn't realized it because he'd been unconscious or had yet to be informed about it?

"What did you do? Molest me after your idiot cousin knocked me out with the fucking door?"

Insult crossed Hugo's face for a brief moment before it settled back into contrite lines. "Of course not. I'd never do that. Tempting though it would have been had I not been concerned about your physical wellbeing." He added ruefully.

"Then what precisely do you think you deserve to be punished for, just so we're clear."

Hugo blinked in surprise, giving Alexei a look that said he thought the answer should be obvious. "For sexually assaulting you of course."

Jaw dropping Alexei couldn't have said how long he stood there gaping at the Gryffindor before he found his voice. "For what? You said you didn't touch me when I was unconscious!"

"And I didn't. But you indicated earlier that my snogging and touching were unwanted and against your will…which means I forced you which means I'm a horrible person who deserves to be punished. I was raised to understand that no means no and because I didn't give you the opportunity to say no I apparently completely misjudged your enjoyment of what we did and therefore unknowingly forced my attention on you. I've always believed that people who use their superior strength and abilities to force their wills onto others deserve to be held accountable for their actions and I am prepared to receive mine without complaint."

"You assehole! Don't make me sound like some weak, pathetic little victim!" Cheeks flushed with fury Alexei marched over and got as in Hugo's face as their different heights would allow without him getting on tip toes. "I am ten times-twenty times the badass that you are and if I'd wanted you to stop I could have had you off me in a second. How dare you suggest that you're superior to me in any way! I could do whatever the hell I wanted to you and YOU'D be the one forced to take it, UNDERSTAND! You'd be MY bitch, not the other way around, GOT IT?"

"Since you're yelling very loudly I would have to be deaf not to."

"GOOD!"

And then it slowly dawned on the Slytherin what he'd just said.

"SHIT!"

Watching the other man launch into a tirade of creative cursing Hugo wisely kept his mouth shut, linking his fingers behind his back as he rocked ever so slightly back and forth on his heels. He'd wait for Alexei to finish before he said anything.

It gave him time to anticipate the Slytherin's next reactions and prepare responses for those reactions so that he wouldn't be caught off guard, Hugo thought ruefully to himself. Bad things would happen otherwise.

"YOU!" Having regained enough control to see things a little clearer Alexei poked an accusing finger into Hugo's chest. "You did that on purpose, didn't you? You're always manipulating me into saying and doing things I shouldn't!"

"Are you saying I'm too smart for you to follow and anticipate?"

"NO!" Wait a second… "You're doing it again! You're distracting me with inflammatory statements so that I have so many things to be pissed off about that I never get the chance to properly curse you for them all."

How had he not realized this before?

Oh well, it had been nice while it lasted, Hugo mused philosophically, waiting for the man's next verbal attack.

Drawing his wand Alexei aimed it at the man's chest, as always annoyed when the threat of bodily harm didn't seem to faze the stupid Gryffindor in the least. It was obvious that the man had no intention of stopping him, counting on the fact that he thought he wouldn't be cursed because so many people were dumb enough to find him too adorable and harmless to harm. Well he wasn't weak like them, he was more than capable of teaching the man what happened to people who messed with his head. Oh yeah, he was more then up to it.

"You're really just going to stand there?"

"I said I was prepared to accept my punishment without complaint."

"I already told you that you aren't guilty of sexual assault, you thickheaded numbskull!"

"True." Hugo acknowledged with a nod. "But that doesn't mean that I don't feel guilty about it so I'm prepared to be punished for something else in place of the actual misdeed I committed."

Dammit, how was he supposed to curse the Gryffindor now? If he did it would be like he was admitting that Hugo's way of looking at their earlier…incident together was the correct way. But if he didn't curse the man it would look like he couldn't do it and he had his pride as a Slytherin and as a man. He'd already looked like a fool in front of the irritating Weasley too many times, he had to stop the trend before it became a habit.

"Here."

Blinking in surprise Alexei stared at the vial being held out towards him, thinking it looked oddly familiar. "What, is it poison to put me out of my misery? Because if it is I'm going to make you drink it and enjoy the irony to my dying day."

"No, sorry, it's not poison that you can use against me." The Gryffindor continued to hold the vial out to him as he explained. "You keep saying that I give you constant headaches so I thought that I should probably start carrying one of these around at all times for you to take. It should get rid of the headache you're starting to give yourself again. Oh, and I'm willing to drink half of it just to prove to you that it's not poison, in case you're worried about that. I know you tend to be overly suspicious where I'm concerned."

Alexei stared blankly at the offering, trying to wrap his mind around this latest turn of events. It was just too much, he realized, this latest incident the final straw. Ever since that cursed night when they'd struck their deal he'd been approaching this moment, and now that it had arrived he just wasn't up to dealing with it.

Not even really thinking about what he was doing Alexei moved away and rather shakily made his way over to the thankfully close by bench, dropping down on it with a thud. That completed the Slytherin leaned forward and buried his face in his hands as he tried to sort out the wreck that had become his life thanks to Hugo Weasley.

Vaguely aware of the fact that he'd been followed Alexei didn't look up when he sensed Hugo crouching down in front of him, the man's voice soft with concern as he asked if the headache was really that bad and did he want him to get someone?

Shaking his head the Slytherin said nothing, ridiculously grateful when the other man fell silent, simply remaining where he was as he patiently waited for some clue as to what was going on.

He'd doomed himself with that first kiss, he realized it now. If only he hadn't needed those ten galleons, if only he hadn't wanted to win so badly that he'd been willing to make a deal with the devil at that point. His pride had been his downfall again and again, dooming him to fall that much deeper into the trap Hugo had dug for him. He was in over his head and he didn't even know which way was up or down anymore. Everything was so cloudy and unclear.

Forcing himself to lift his head Alexei stared into the eyes that watched him so closely, concern radiating from their soft brown depths.

"What am I going to do with you, seriously."

Blinking once Hugo's response was very matter of fact. "I don't think you'd like any of my suggestions so I would imagine it would be best if you came up with the answer to that on your own."

"That could end very badly for you."

"I know."

When the silence that descended became too uncomfortable, Alexei unable to move backwards or forwards as he continued to struggle with his chaotic, confused mind, Hugo felt compelled to offer one of his suggestions in the hopes that the Slytherin would get angry and therefore would free himself, if only temporarily, from the turmoil he seemed to be experiencing.

"Might I suggest that from now on, every time I start to irritate you with something I've said or done, you just snog me? Not only will you be physically blocking my mouth so that I can't say anything more, but when you do that it quite thoroughly affects my ability to hold thoughts so in all likelihood I'll forget all about what I was doing in the first place. Oh, and as an added bonus snogging me is not something you can get detention, be suspended, or get expelled for which wouldn't be the case when it comes to previous suggestions of how you'd like to shut me up permanently."

The Slytherin stared, dumbfounded. "That's your suggestion? If we went with that plan I'd spend every waking moment in your presence snogging you!"

Hugo couldn't help but grin at the mental images that produced. "I know."

Alexei tried, he really did, but he couldn't help it, he had to laugh.

Simply enjoying the sound Hugo waited until the Slytherin's features were finished rearranging themselves into the man's usual, serious face, before he leaned forward and ever so gently placed his lips on the corner of the harsh but soft mouth in front of him in the briefest of butterfly kisses.

"Think about it."

And on that note the Gryffindor got to his feet, thinking to leave the other man to his thoughts now without his presence there to cloud them.

Hand lashing out Alexei's fingers had wrapped around Hugo's wrist before the Gryffindor even saw it coming.

"I will…think about it."

He kept his hold long enough to make sure the other man understood and then he let go, watching Hugo walk away until he was out of sight.

And started to deal with the fact that he hadn't really wanted the man to leave in the first place.

)

Seven years later

"And so, after many months of fighting and making up, we decided that that really was the best way to handle things and that's why I kiss your Uncle Alexei so much." Hugo explained to his rapt audience, who were hanging on his every word while they finished up their ice cream cones. "Of course I'd kiss him lots and lots regardless, but I also have to do it because if I didn't your uncle would probably murder me in my bed someday and that would be really bad. Does that answer your question?"

"Uh huh." Lisabeth agreed with a nod of her head, her brother doing the same in tandem. "Uncle Hugo, would Uncle Alexei like you even more if me and Seth gave him extra kisses too? We'd be real sad if you died and would cry lots and lots."

Hugo grinned at the twins, reaching out to ruffle their hair. "No, you leave the kissing to me. He prefers it when I do it."

"Do I even want to know what you're talking about?" Domi asked as she appeared beside them, giving her cousin a questioning look. When he just grinned she rolled her eyes, deciding she probably didn't want to know. "Well anyway, thanks for watching them while I popped into that shop, Huey. Knowing them they would have gotten ice cream everywhere but in their mouths."

"No problem, time passed surprisingly quickly."

Giving each of his cousin's children a hug and ice cream flavored kiss Hugo wave them all off and then continued on his way, the smile on his face growing that much bigger ten minutes later when he arrived at his destination.

"You're late."

"Sorry. I would have been early but I got sidetracked by Domi. She spotted me walking by and corralled me into watching the twins for a few minutes. I started telling them a story and had no idea how much time had passed until I was on my way again."

"So I was kept waiting because even after all these years you STILL don't know how to say no to any member of your family. Figures."

Knowing what kind of sorry the other man preferred Hugo moved in to fit his lips against his lover's, wrapping his arms around the Slytherin's waist as he molded their bodies together.

And reacting as he always did Alexei kissed the Gryffindor back and accepted, for the zillionth time, the man's apology for being so damn annoying and troublesome.

It worked for them.

THE END


End file.
